INTERVIEW: Stephane Wrembel finds Django, the Impressionist
Photo: Stephane Wrembel’s new album is called Django L’Impressionniste. Cover art courtesy of the artist / Provided by Cindy Byram PR with permission.
The journey that guitarist Stephane Wrembel is on is a long one — a journey he started many years ago, and one that will no doubt take him a lifetime to achieve. As the preeminent interpreter of Django Reinhardt’s music, Wrembel has brought audiences and listeners on a musical adventure into the heart and history of the Gypsy instrumentalist.
The latest leg of this journey is Wrembel’s masterful new album, Django L’Impressionniste (Django the Impressionist). The recording doesn’t only present the well-known compositions of the master guitarist, but rather a series of solo pieces originally recorded by Reinhardt between 1937 and 1950.
“I spent the last three years on it,” Wrembel said of the recording effort, which was released on CD, vinyl and digital in October. “In 2017, for my show at Carnegie Hall, I wanted to start the show with ‘Improvisation 1,’ which is a very famous [piece] composed by Django Reinhardt. It is notoriously very hard to play, but very beautiful. So I really wanted to start the show with that, so I learned it and started the show with it, which was in March of 2017.”
Reinhardt loved the experience of interpreting “Improvisation 1,” so much so that he moved on to “Improvisation 2.” His experience on this second tune was similarly satisfying, so he thought he’d give “Improvisation 3” a chance.
“I started discovering that there is a whole world of those solo pieces that is completely not explored of Django, and I went on a mission to find them all, learn them all, record them all, release the album and bring it to the level of concert,” he said. “Three years, from the first song to transcribe everything, record everything, prepare the concert and play the first concert, three years of work.”
Wrembel, who resists calling Reinhardt a “Gypsy jazz” guitarist, was born in Paris and raised in Fontainebleau, France, the home of Reinhardt and Impressionism, so it should come as no surprise that Wrembel would start making connections between Reinhardt and the Impressionists. He has been listening to this music ever since he was a child, and he loves to find these cross-connections.
What specifically helped Wrembel on his journey into Reinhardt’s solo pieces is a 40-CD set known as Intégrale Django Reinhardt.
“There is a series called Intégrale Django Reinhardt from Frémeaux & Associés,” Wrembel said. “It’s a music label, and they are specialized in archival and historical song recordings of all kinds. They have the Intégrale Django Reinhardt all in chronological order — everything, interviews, radio shows, Django as a side man. They have the entire thing. It’s really incredible, and it’s 40 CDs. And I cruised the whole thing digging for every piece of music I could find, and I found these 17 pieces.”
When Wrembel found and absorbed the mastery of these 17 solo pieces, he began to realize his thesis of rejecting the “Gypsy jazz” moniker now had clear evidence. One can certainly hear jazz elements within these recordings, along with the other tunes of Reinhardt, but there are many more influences and styles at play.
“How do we approach Django,” he asked. “Is it just that thing that some people call Gypsy jazz, which I don’t really know what that is. Django is really an Impressionist. That’s really what struck me is these 17 preludes show that Django was very influenced by Debussy and Ravel, and that’s the foundation of his playing. That’s really what’s behind the doors. He is by essence an Impressionist, except he’s a man of his time. Because he’s a musician, he loves music for the music.”
Genre didn’t seem to matter to Reinhardt, so he was influenced by Debussy at a young age and then started playing in the dominant style of the early 20th century, which was jazz. The resulting recordings are jazzy composition that speak to a deeper Impressionist heart.
“He has the understanding of music and harmony on the level of Debussy or Ravel or Bach,” Wrembel said. “That’s why it’s so sophisticated and unique because you have everything. He has a bit of flamenco in his playing, Spanish guitar, classical guitar, Debussy, Ravel. He has Bach. He has jazz. He has tango. There’s everything. It’s crazy. He found the [true] nature of the guitar. It’s almost like the nature of the guitar unfolded under his fingers. It’s absolutely mind-blowing what happened with that guy.”
The 17 pieces for the album, which Wrembel recently played at a New York City concert at FIAF Florence Gould Hall, allow listeners a chance to access this diversity of style and appreciate this musical exploration. There’s “Tea for Two” from 1937, “Naguine” from 1939, “Belleville” from 1950 and the many improvisational tracks. For historians, it’s also interesting to see how the compositions change year by year, when Reinhardt was on the run as World Ward II gripped the countries of Europe.
“These 17 pieces, it was so hard to memorize,” he said. “It’s like an hour and 10 minutes of music. … It’s like a real complete classical recital. It’s pretty intense in terms of the memorization and all that, but it’s such a marvelous repertoire. On my end, it helped me to understand his jazz playing way better. Now I see the connection between that and Debussy. Fantastic. Now when I transcribe his playing, I have other background to put under what he plays, a different understanding, which is way deeper. I understand the nature of the guitar way better because of that. It’s incredible.”
He added: “As of now, I’m the only human being to know these 17 pieces and to perform them live in chronological order and to have recorded them. Right now, it’s the first time. It’s never been done before.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Stephane Wrembel’s Django L’Impressionniste is now available on CD, vinyl and digital. Upcoming concerts include Django Brunch at New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club Nov. 24 and Dec. 22, plus a Symphony Space concert Dec. 5. Click here for more information.
