An Unclassifiable Homage to Stéphane Grappelli

courtesy of PIAS

This Friday harmonia mundi will release the second album on which French violinist Mathias Lévy pays homage to the legacy of the legendary French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. The first album, Revisiting Grappelli (currently available from Amazon.com only through MP3 download), was the more conventional tribute album, providing contemporary takes on some of the most memorable compositions from Grappelli’s repertoire. The tribute was “sweetened” by Lévy playing the Pierre Hel violin, made in Lille in 1924, that had belonged to Grappelli, currently part of the collection at the Museum of Music, one of the venues at the Philharmonie de Paris.

In contrast the new album is prospective, rather than retrospective. This time the repertoire consists entirely of recent original compositions. The title of the album is Unis Vers; and, in the accompanying booklet, there is a translator’s note that describes the title as a pun of two French homonyms, which translate as “universe” and “in league.” The album is part of a series of harmonia mundi releases called the Stradivari Collection, all of which involve performances on historical instruments housed at the Museum of Music. As usual, Amazon.com is processing pre-orders for this new release.

The album consists of ten original compositions, eight of which are by Lévy himself. He performs in a trio whose other members are bassist Jean-Philippe Viret, who had played with Grappelli, and Sébastien Giniaux, who alternates between guitar and cello. Each of them contribute one original composition to the album. There are also two “guest artists,” cellist Vincent Ségal and Vincent Peirani on accordion. Finally, there is an initial track labeled as “Intro,” which seems to be an improvised “warm-up” solo by Lévy. Considered as a whole, all eleven performances can be taken as either jazz as chamber music by other means or chamber music as jazz by other means.

This is the sort of offering that runs the risk of descending into a gimmick gone wrong. However, all five of the contributing musicians are too masterful at their respective techniques to allow the descent to occur. Even Lévy’s “Thelonious,” which almost flirts with an arrogant nod to Thelonious Monk, finds just the right thematic lexicon to evoke Monk’s spirit without the slightest hint of cheap imitation.

Indeed, in reflecting on this album, I recalled another jazz musician, who was subjected to homage treatment by Monk himself, Duke Ellington. Many associate Ellington with his favorite motto, “It’s all music.” That motto is all we need to know while listening to Lévy’s Unis Vers album.