Steeve Laffont - New Quintet (2012)

Yes, Steeve Laffont is a Manouche, and yes again, he plays in Django style as only a handful of guitarists can. But his hopes and wishes as well as his talent are not limited to this obsessive technical skill, nor are his personal musical universe and artistic ambitions limited to working in the wake of Django and his various approaches to jazz. He s been playing guitar in different styles forever (or so it seems), always with the same fervour, the same strong desire, and the same spontaneity. So he is quietly evolving in different ways with the same supple feline grace as Grant Green, the same controlled fieriness as Wes Montgomery, the same sophisticated elegance as Joe Pass, the same sense of melody as Charlie Byrd, the same rolling groove as George Benson, the same elegant lyricism as Jim Hall. Steeve Laffont spells happiness that of innocence found once again, the pure inspiration of an unaffected, direct style constantly aimed at pleasure and jubilation.