Après
l'excellent " sources manouches
" voilà le nouveau disque
de l'accordéoniste Marcel Loeffler.
Si la rythmique est la même :
Gauthier Laurent, contrebasse, Cédric
et Josélito Loeffler, guitares
d'accompagnement, Marcel a souhaité
inviter pas mal d'amis musiciens pour
être le plus éclectique
possible, car il aime les couleurs différentes.
Quatre guitaristes solistes (et non
des moindres) interviennent selon les
titres : Mandino Reinhardt, Dino Mehrstein,
Yorgui Loeffler, David Reinhardt. Le
violoniste Costel Nitescu est aussi
de la fête de même que la
chanteuse de jazz Cécile Verny
qui officiait au sein de Sweet Chorus
il y a 20 ans.
A signaler un bonus DVD de 30' où
les témoignages chaleureux de
ses complices alternent avec des extraits
en studio ; car il ne s'agit pas seulement
de musique mais aussi d'amitié.
Ceux qui ne connaissent pas Marcel apprécieront
sa simplicité, son humilité
et l'intelligence de ses propos.
Attendez un peu avant d'éjecter
la galette car après un silence
de quelques secondes, Marcel remet le
couvert pour un long solo dont il a
le secret.
Francis Couvreux
Distributed by Harmonia Mundi.
Indicative price : 21,70 €
Marcel
Loeffler (accordion), Cédric
Loeffler, Josélito Loeffler (rhythmic
guitar), Laurent Gautier (bass) and
Biréli Lagrène, Yorguy
Loeffler (guitar), Marcel Azzola (accordeon),
Lisa Doby (songs) performing various
song titles.
Listen to an extract of "Secret"
Listen to an extract with "Biréli
Lagrène"
Discovery
In the midst of the current profusion
of albums, how can one distinguish a
good manouche jazz album from the others?
It would not be a bad idea at all to
take the assets of one of the least
known artistes, but certainly one of
the most pertinent, the accordionist,
Marcel Loeffler. Vigour and faithfulness
to the rhythm, not a vain virtuosity
but one complementing the density of
the lyrics, clarity and fluidity of
the melody line and above all, a harmonic
refinement not only in the composition
(Piso Place, Swing Surprise) but in
the improvisation as well. This last
quality shows the open-mindedness of
the discreet musician. On this foundation,
everything is possible: the playful
reprise in a very “HCF quintet”
ambiance of Them There Eyes and other
standards where not only Biréli
Lagrène lets loose (giving an
adventurous chorus of All the Things
you Are), but even more spirited, the
remarkable Yorguy Loeffler, with the
dizzying homage to Django, created a
soft ambiance interpreted on an unusual
tempo and with a maturely sensitive
reprise of the very rare “Où
es-tu mon amour?” And finally,
the dazzling dialogue full of feeling
with Marcel Azzola (how many French
jazz musicians have his grace: Stéphane
Grappelli, Maurice Meunier, Henri Crolla
and then?) in his masterpiece “Double
Scotch”. A successfully accomplished
album, harmoniously bringing together
demanding standards and acquiescence.
Stéphane
Carini (Jazzman, n°119, décembre
2005)
Marcel
Loeffler "Sessions"
2003, RDC6401272
We
knew about his talents as an instrumentalist.
With “Sessions”, Marcel Loeffler
confirms his qualities as composer. With
a strange melancholic tone oft times,
this second album with this title will
make its mark: marvelously backed up by
Gauthier Laurent (string bass), Jean-Yves
Jung (piano and Fender Rhodes) and Olivier
Strauch (trap set), his jazz accordion
navigates with his brilliant fellow musicians
on a sea of tenderness, generosity and
warmth where swing gives the effect of
a delicious crest.
Nine personal and elegant numbers easily
support a comparison with two beautiful
reprises (“Voyage”, of Kenny
Baron, and “I can’t get started”
by Vernon Duke). A sublime tango (“Sonia’s”),
a sensuous ballad (“Promenade”)
and a majestuous composition (“Six
months for a day”) with singer Lisa
Doby – indeed a must-see talent
– takes this album to a new zenith.
Jm T
Listen to an extract
of "Voyage"
Listen to an extract
of "Opus
2000 " (Improvisation)
During
the ten plus compositions in a row that
“Note Manouche”
played, it’s the soloists who
call the dance. Masterfully experienced
in this exercise, and with a perfect
understanding of the other that can
be felt many times, accordionist Marcel
Loeffler and guitarist Mandino Reinhardt
lead a lively dialogue, frolic freely
and break into enchanting sessions.
One can never tire of being carried
away by the musical intuition of the
former. Marcel takes the themes and
reinvents them endlessly, with a vivacity
that is hard to keep up with at times.
Like the dizzying “Complices”
which opens the disc, and the dazzling
“Sur les ponts de Venise”.
Gérard Muller (string bass) and
Josélito Loeffler (rhythm guitar),
occasionally backed up by the guitarist
Dino Mehrstein infuses a joyful swing
to the compositions that recur regularly.
The waltz musette phase (Conference)
doesn’t come as a surprise. The
themes are all signed Marcel Loeffler
or Mandino Reinhardt, except “Serenade
Parisienne”, by Gus Viseur, master
of the jazz accordion and a major influence
constantly reiterated by Marcel. The
accordion also possesses accents and
a sensuality that evokes the bandoneon.
The mystic presence of Astor Piazzola
crops up from time to time in “Souvenir”.
Yet another demonstration of the capability
of manouche musicians who enrich their
repertoires from varied sources of inspiration.
Fr B (Dernières
nouvelles d'Alsace)
listen to an extract
of "Conférence"
listen to an extract of "Sur
les ponts de Venise"
Marcel
Loeffler "Vago"
1996, Tam-9602 (Night and day)
Marcel
Loeffler not only on the accordion but
also on the piano (“Vif” or
“Christine”, which is similar
to “Blue Moon”), or on the
synthesiser (“Valse à mi-temps”),
accompanied by remarkable musicians (Biréli
Lagrène of course, but also Pétré
in “Christine” or Aurélien
Andrei and Mandino Reinhardt in “Tangomania”)
present a real jazz accordion album. Up
until this moment, we have had the pleasure
of “news musette” CDs, as
they say, other accordions sounding different,
but never an album like this one, encompassing
in its entirety, the whole range that
the jazz accordion could cover. Beautifully
compiled, balanced, with American and
French rhythms, Marcel Loeffler, composer
of many of the numbers, creates charming
melodies that caress the ear and knows
how to embellish them with a delicate
flourish.
Michel Bedin (Jazz Hot)
Listen to an extract of "Vago"
Sweet
Chorus
Other
albums in which Marcel participates :
Reïsa
Gilles
Coquard with Biréli Lagrène,
Mino Cinelu and Marcel Loeffler
Listen to an extract
of "L'œuf
coq"
