Description
Martin Weiss – violin
David Weiss – accordion
Danino Weiss – piano & keyboards
Alexander Haas – bass
Xaver Hellmaier – drums
Biboul Draouiche – percussion on Track 2,4,8,9
“Smile” is the name of the new album by Martin Weiss and the David and Danino Weiss Quartet. And it also begins with the song of the same name, the most famous composition by Charlie Chaplin. A choice that perfectly describes the character of the album in several respects. First, because the piece, later made famous by Nat King Cole and today played as a jazz and pop standard by countless performers, dates from 1936. The time when Django Reinhardt invented the only original European style in the classical era of jazz: the Gypsy Swing, also called Jazz Manouche or Hot Jazz. Then, because “Smile” with its highly emotional mixture of melancholy and consolation fits exactly the ambivalence of Gypsy Swing. And finally, because the piece comes from the film “Modern Times”, which deals precisely with the interface between tradition and departure, which is now also the musical focus of Martin, David and Danino Weiß.
Because hot jazz is probably the jazz style that is most traditional and familiar. With “Sinti-Swing” there is another name for it, which makes it even clearer who upholds and carries on Django’s legacy to this day: The Sinti families living throughout Europe. The Reinhardts themselves, the Wintersteins, the Schmitts, the Adlers or the Rosenbergs still carry on the music of their fathers, sometimes still without sheet music, as self-taught and intuitive musicians. One of the largest and most productive Sinti swing families is the Weiss family. Numerous outstanding hot jazz musicians are descended from this family, the best known being the guitarists Häns’che and Traubeli Weiss.
Descendants of both have now joined forces for “Smile”. Martin Weiss, born in 1961, is Häns’che’s nephew. Already at the age of 17 he celebrated his first international successes in Häns’che’s quartet, today he is considered one of the outstanding jazz violinists in Europe. He has played with renowned jazz greats and institutions such as Oscar Peterson, Biréli Lagrène, the WDR Big Band and Joe Pass.
Traubeli Weiss, in turn, was the uncle of David, who was born in 1992. He and his one year younger cousin Danino learned the basics from him. But then, like many young Sinti musicians of the new generation, they went their own way. Scho- in the choice of instruments: they did not choose the classic gypsy swing instruments of guitar or violin, but accordion and piano. What changes from the outset the sound of the Django Reinhardt cosmos and expands it with other jazz styles. Just listen to how Danino Weiss accompanies Martin Weiss’ hot jazz violin melody line with bebop chords on “Whispering” – the first “million-seller” in music history, released in 1920 by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra – and reminds us of Erroll Garner in his solo.
The rhythm section of David and Danino’s quartet also ensures the always respectful but contemporary treatment of tradition. Bassist Alexander Haas may have played with Traubeli Weiss for 20 years, but he is a true all-rounder who accompanies everything from soul with Ecco Di Lorenzo and the blues of a Christian Willisohn to musicals, musical cabaret such as the duo Unsere Lieblinge and southeastern European music such as the Konnexion Balkon to modern string quartets and new folk music such as the Hochzeitskapelle. Drummer Xaver Hellmeier is also one of the most sought-after jazz drummers of his generation. Since studying in Munich, Vienna and New York, he has played with countless greats of classic jazz such as John Marshall, Vincent Herring or Peter Bernstein and is also a welcome guest in all jazz clubs with his own quintet. On four of the pieces, the percussionist Biboul Darouiche, a pioneer of global jazz who has been combining Afrobeat with jazz for many years with his band Soleil Bantu, also joins in.
So it was not without reason that the previous album of the David and Danino Weiss Quartet was called “The New Gypsy Sound”. The fusion of the Manouche tradition with new melodies and grooves now also determines “Smile”. From the casual swing of the Charles Trenet classic “I Wish You Love” or the languorous Bert Kaempfert hit “Lonely Is A Name” to a playful “June Night” and the final “Our Day Will Come” (originally an R’n’B number) – everything leads to hot jazz, to be sure, which David and Danino also emphasize: “Of course, in the end we always come back to the music Django and our uncle played.” But each musician is allowed to add his own touch. Which with Martin Weiss sometimes sounds like the more modern jazz fiddle of a Didier Lockwood; with David goes into the current accordion sounds; and with Danino’s piano playing imports a lot of bop and modern jazz parts.
Latin rhythm, another great hobbyhorse of David and Danino Weiss, also comes into play on “Smile”. Vinícius de Moraes’ “Voce E Eu” glides gently along. And things really heat up on “Tristeza”, the song by Luiz Bonfá made famous by Astrud Gilberto, which doesn’t sound sad here at all, but rousing and upbeat. Finally, the Weissens round off this successful mixture with a dash of Balkan, with the Hungarian-influenced “Gyönyörű Mirkor A Majus”.
Blind understanding characterizes the interplay of these five aces. The virtuoso solos flow seamlessly into one another, and special ideas – especially in Danino’s sparkling piano playing – always provide excitement and surprise. And keep the album in the balance between sentiment and exuberance so typical for Gypsy Swing. Thus “Smile” leaves the listener with a smile at the end for sure. Even if perhaps with a tear in the buttonhole.
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