magnifique!!

I downloaded this album today, and this review is in fact about the John Jorgenson Quintet's performance at Whidbey Island on Saturday. JJ played all the songs from Ultraspontane during his performance, and he just blew everyone away!! The very first thing I did after getting home was to log on and look for him in emusic! And, of course he was there! Kudos to emusic for having this album available to us.. The title track - Ultraspontane - is a tour de force of virtuoso style on a gypsy jazz guitar. The influences he presents while playing just seem to flow through his fingers. I don't believe there is a weak track on this CD. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to hear beautiful tone, machine-gun level picking, and amazingly subtle nuance throughout! Download it!

Django Lives

I first heard John Jorgenson on an NPR interview while I was driving home from work. Needless to say, I took the long way home so I got to hear the whole piece. His nouveau gypsy sound is fantastic and his composition skills are top notch. My only complaint is to E-music for hiding him under "Rock/Pop". If I had not searched for him by name, I might never have found this gem.

A Fantistic CD!

Fans of The Hot Club of Paris, Gypsy Swing and the music of Django Reinhardt will enjoy this recording a great deal. Actually, anyone who enjoys good music will enjoy this CD a great deal. John is an amazing musician, playing guitar, clarinet and more with finesse, flair and passion. With a group of crack musicians, "Ultraspontane" shines with brilliance, life and melodious joy. Play it in the background for pleasant ambiance, or crank it up and marvel at the interplay and technique of a talented group.

John Jorgenson still has difficulty shaking the image of being a country artist in the minds of some fans due to his tenure with the Desert Rose Band, even though he has worked extensively on his own since that group disbanded in the early ’90s. But the guitarist has long been interested in the Gypsy swing of the legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and has recorded several CDs in that genre that still likely end up placed in the country sections of record stores. This 2007 release features Jorgenson leading a different kind of group than Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli had with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, as he substitutes Stephan Dudash (on a five-string viola) and percussion in the place of a second rhythm guitarist. Most of Jorgenson’s nine originals are very much in the Gypsy swing tradition and his mastery of his instrument is apparent throughout the date, with highlights including the engaging “Bossa Orpheum.” Not everything is completely in the Gypsy swing mold; “Ultraspontane” has a Middle Eastern flavor, while the playful “G-Funk” adds the Nashville String Quartet to accompany the guitarist and bassist Charlie Chadwick. “La Journee des Tziganes” (which also adds the strings) also has a contemporary swing flavor, with hints of David Grisman. The one standard is a lightly swinging “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me,” which adds a warm vocal by Beryl Davis, while Jorgenson also interprets Reinhardt’s “Improvisation No. 1″ and “Improvisation No. 2″ with finesse. John Jorgenson the jazz guitarist is obviously here to stay. – Ken Dryden

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bfitzsimons2001

How can such an amazing album only have an overall 4 star rating? That is ridiculous. I own many, many, many jazz albums, and this one ranks up towards the top.