Biréli Lagrène has been releasing records for over forty five years, which is impressive enough until you remember he is not even sixty. Over that span, he has explored nearly every corner of the jazz spectrum, from fusion to big band, from gypsy swing to more contemporary forms, while also branching out beyond the guitar to bass and vocals. His list of collaborators reads like a history of modern jazz, from Stéphane Grappelli and Elvin Jones to Jaco Pastorius and Al Di Meola and that creative drive has not dimmed. His latest album, Elegant People (check out our review HERE), only reinforces his standing as one of the most complete guitarists working today.
Which is why this showcase at Studio Sextan felt like a rare privilege. In this intimate recording space just outside Paris, Lagrène and his quartet, Raphaël Pannier on drums, Jean-Yves Jung on piano, Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes, and William Brunard on upright bass, performed a selection of material from the new record; a few originals and some choice covers, like a variation on "Giant Steps." The setting suited the music perfectly: close, warm, unadorned. Every nuance perfectly audible, every exchange between players visible.
For all the reverence the setting might suggest, the music itself never settled into formality. This was not museum jazz: it breathed, it swung, it occasionally pushed the volume and the tempo just enough to remind you that it is still a physical experience. You could see it in the audience, feet tapping almost unconsciously, and in the musicians, exchanging glances and small smiles after a particularly sharp phrase or well placed accent. That fleeting interplay, fragile and immediate, is where the music lives. A finely drawn hour in the company of players who know exactly how to listen.
