(Dominque Rouqueir, guitar solo; Pierre Delaveau, guitar; David Rivère, accordion; Laurent Zeller, violin; Laurent Delaveau, bass)
This is not your father’s gypsy jazz group. The quintet is from the Blois region of France and are not gypsies, but have become one of the most brilliant groups working in the area of what’s known in Europe as Manouche Jazz. Let’s start with some translations: The accepted phrase describing the special rhythm of the backing guitars in a gypsy jazz group is “pompe manouche” – gypsy pump. Well, the quintet has created one of the plays on words so popular with the French, and made it “My Showerheads.” Their album title translates with some difficulty into “We’re not here to get a telling-off.”
The main thing here is the music. The fact that The Pommes are not just slavishly imitating the Django Reinhardt style and tunes is clearly demonstrated by the first track of the CD: It’s a Count Basie tune: “Tickle-toe.” In fact I don’t see any of the familiar Django tunes on the list of 14 tracks here. But there are lots of original ones, full of the same gypsy jazz spirit but sounding a bit more up to date and frequently displaying more subtlety than the typical traditional Manouche classic. As indicated by the group’s name and album title, there is more than a little tongue-in-cheek humor in Les Pommes as well. More than that, they swing madly!
TrackList: Tickle-toe, Paris Je T’Aime d’Amour, Puisque Vous Partez en Voyage, Roule Hot, Premier Rendezvous, On N’est Pas La Pour se Faire Engueuler, Mademoiselle de Paris, Bossapin, Je Suis Swing, J’ai Deux Amours, S.V.P., Gadjo D’Pommes, La Biche Le Loup et le Chevalier, L’Archet du L’Est.
– John Henry
