Barcelone / Various - Barcelone [CD]

Led by Tcha Limberger, the Violons de Bruxelles group brings together the finest strings that Belgium has to offer, and puts the accent not on the guitar but on three violins. This string quintet takes the traditional swing formula of the "Hot Club de France" but turns it's codes inside out. The British musician Dave Kelbie produced this album - his credits include Fapy Lafertin, Django à la creole, Trio Tatavla - and it has magnificent arrangements of standards alongside wonderful original titles. The quintet is unrivalled in it's performance of gypsy jazz, swing, songs (and related genres like the choro), resulting in melodies that merge jazz with chamber music while the violins blend sumptuous improvisations with classic arrangements and wild forays into gypsy and Latin music. They have a unique way of drawing material from it's source to make it evolve into something else.