One of the greatest jazz guitarists of his generation,
Howard Alden has played many different styles during his career. The music of
Django Reinhardt was an early inspiration and it became one of the many parts of
Alden's extensive repertoire.
Alden's approach to
Django's music has its own distinct sound; he doesn't attempt to reproduce the instrumentation of
the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, instead using a single rhythm guitarist (Matt Munisteri) and bassist (
Jon Burr, who spent over a decade playing with
Stéphane Grappelli at the end of the violinist's long career), with guest appearances by
Anat Cohen or
Warren Vaché on several tracks.
Alden plays two of
Reinhardt's compositions, on acoustic guitar in a brilliant setting of "Nuages" as a duet with
Cohen on soprano sax, along with a magical solo treatment of the
Reinhardt/
Grappelli work "Tears."
Duke Ellington's "Jubilee Stomp" is an overlooked gem, but
Alden and friends bring it to life in a hard-charging arrangement, with
Cohen's spirited soprano rivaling
Alden for top solo honors.
Cohen switches to clarinet to for
Alden's intimate arrangement of
Barney Kessel's "I Remember Django."
Vaché's muted trumpet is added in the samba setting of the standard "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," switching to open horn for a deliberate stroll through "I'm Confessin'." While there have been many tributes to
Django Reinhardt since his death in 1953,
Howard Alden's
I Remember Django is easily among the most memorable efforts. ~ Ken Dryden