Stephane Wrembel: Terre Des Hommes, part 1

Expectations Are The Root Of Disappointment

From: Monty
To: Brian & Scott

Shortly after I put this CD up for consideration I decided I had spoken too soon. In my own defense, when I bought it I was at an extraordinarily impressive performance by the artist in question, Stephane Wrembel. Going into the show, I knew nothing about Wrembel other than what was stated on the emailed advertisement: gypsy jazz in the tradition of Django Reinhardt, with Indian, African, and Middle Eastern influences. By the intermission, I was so happy with what I was hearing I couldn’t possibly resist buying his latest CD, Terre Des Hommes. Walking to back to the car when the show was over, everyone in our party --veteran concert-goers all-- agreed that this guy was among the best players any of us had ever seen.

The next day, I sent emails to various friends, yourselves included, pretty well raving about the show. As you guys know, that was what prompted this disc to be our second discussion topic.

Later that evening I finally popped the CD into the player and...wasn’t so impressed.

I really hate it when people review anything in terms of what that thing is not. Nevertheless, all I could think about on first hearing Terre Des Hommes were all the ways that it wasn’t what I had heard at the show the afternoon before. First, it (mostly) doesn’t sound very Django-esque. There’s an element of that style throughout, but it’s more like a hint of spice than a main flavor. Second, a good portion of the recording uses electric bass and (mildly annoying) electronic guitar effects, whereas the concert had been purely acoustic. I don’t have any particular aversion to electronics, but this was not a part of the music I had heard that enticed me into the CD in the first place. But most of all I didn’t hear the drive, the spontenaety, the freshness, the attitude, of the music that was evident in the show.

It will be interesting to learn your thoughts on the record. Kind of in reverse of our Lou Barlow discussion, this time around I have (I think) more background information than you guys do. Or, perhaps better phrased, a different reference point.

And on the topic of reference points, the vast differences between Wrembel’s performance and the CD itself led me to do some further investigation. I discovered three earlier recordings of Wrembel, two of which I bought and both of which are MUCH more in line with what I had expected from Terre Des Hommes. I don’t want to stray too far away from the topic at hand, so I won’t get any more specific about these other two recordings (unless you want me to), except to say that listening to them has colored my opinion about Terre Des Hommes to a sufficient degree that now I can say a few things about what it is, rather than what it isn’t.

Terre Des Hommes is a pleasant, often pretty, highly accessible guitar record made by an artist with a whole lot more to offer. Competent and confident without being especially challenging, it’s the kind of recording that might draw in listeners unfamiliar with swing in general or gypsy jazz in particular. It’s not at all what I was looking for, but it might be just the gateway drug somebody else needs.