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Alba Gitana

by Steeve Laffont

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lizttg
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lizttg This song is unique and it blends well with my clothing line. I use this song for my first runway show last year 2022. Thank you.
leos
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leos Great music by great musicians Favorite track: Pour ma fille.
chrisdamson
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chrisdamson Saw your ad on Facebook. Love the music. In UK.
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  • Streaming + Download

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a lovely digipack with an 8-page booklet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Alba Gitana via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Vinyl version of our latest album with insert

    Includes unlimited streaming of Alba Gitana via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days

      €22 EUR or more 

     

1.
Alba Gitana 09:07
2.
Dinello 02:47
3.
Jess Fusion 04:24
4.
Keep Calm 04:01
5.
6.
7.
8.

about

ALBA GITANA
Ici, tout commence.
Ce projet d’« Aube gitane » marque un tournant majeur, qui n’a rien d’innocent dans le parcours d’un guitariste estampillé « manouche ». Car si le mot a une étymologie de portée universelle (manu signifiant « homme » en sanscrit), il est bien souvent réduit au sillage quasi mystique d’un musicien de génie : Django Reinhardt. L’aube de Steeve Laffont marque l’échappée de son art en dehors de cette tradition, devenue classique.
Ses compositions personnelles, au centre de l’album, offrent les ingrédients d’une recette insolite : toucher manouche, effluves flamenco, ruptures bossa nova, épices indiennes, rythmes klezmer et couleurs espagnoles. Steeve se laisse bercer par ce qui a fait l’essence même de la culture tzigane : le voyage et l’inattendu. L’album est le récit de cette émancipation, cette joie de n’avoir désormais aucun compte à rendre, aucun legs à respecter mais de si nombreuses racines à faire germer.
Les morceaux ne cèdent à aucun cliché, à aucun dogme et offrent de traverser des paysages qui ne reviennent pas nécessairement sur leur pas, comme l’auraient fait une chanson car telle est la loi de l’itinérance. De la même façon, la rythmique n’est pas toujours là où on l’attend, marquant le port d’attache de la mélodie ou son habile contrepoint.
Il y a néanmoins un point sur lequel le projet ne transige jamais : le partage et le plaisir. Avec la complicité de virtuoses que sont Costel Nitescu au violon, Dominique Di Piazza à la basse - que John Mac Laughlin présente comme « l’un des plus grands bassistes au monde » et l’indispensable compagnon Rudy Rabuffetti à la guitare rythmique, les compositions ne sont jamais des tours de force mais des tours de magie.
Dans Alba Gitana, il n’y a donc qu’à se laisser porter : la fluidité du jeu de ce quartet d’exception guide une exploration harmonique aussi riche que profonde. C’est un album à l’esprit jazz dans ce qu’il a de plus universel et de plus élégant : un art funambule entre grilles et libertés.

It all begins here.
Alba Gitana, Gipsy dawn, is a commencement, a turning point of particular importance in the career of a guitarist labelled as “manouche”. Because despite the universality within that word, (“manu” meaning “man” in Sanskrit), it is often reduced to the almost mystical musical legacy of the genius Django Reinhardt. Steeve Laffont’s dawn sees his artistry break away from the confines of this tradition.
In his original compositions we find the ingredients for an unexpected recipe. There is a manouche feel to it, but the fragrance of flamenco mixes with Indian spices, the bossa nova breaks and klezmer rhythms are coloured by Spain ; Steeve finds comfort in both the journey and it’s unexpected turns. Such is the very essence of Tzigane culture. This album tells the story of an emancipation and the joy of no longer being held to respect a legacy, a tradition, of finally having so many more roots to grow with.
Freedom is key to this project which never compromises on the essential : sharing the pleasure of playing together. In the company of such virtuosos as Costel Nitescu on violin, Dominique Di Piazza on bass and of course the ever-faithful Rudy Rabuffetti on rhythm guitar, the compositions are never shows of strength, rather finely crafted magic tricks.
Unlike a song, which will often go back on its own tracks, these pieces wander across the landscape in their own way, nomadic. Their rhythmic pulse is not always where one would expect to find it, sometimes preferring to denote the melody’s favourite corner, or indeed its clever counterpoint.
Among the many strong, free female figures presented here, we encounter such pillars of Steeve’s life as his wife, in the homage Djess Fusion, and his daughter, Djazz in Pour ma Fille, along with a certain Tchaï Funky. And male friendships are not left aside, Tato brings his rumba guitar to spice up the title track Alba Gitana, whilst Groove for Costel is a tribute to the violinist’s singular talent. Keep Calm sums up Steeve’s unique relationship with his art; having emerged from a day of dreadful unrest, music is the final meeting place, the place where he finds his peace.
With such vivid, liquid playing Alba Gitana is an invitation to let go, to submit to a harmonic wandering as deep as it is wide. A high-wire walk between structures and freedom, here is the spirit of jazz at its most elegant and universal.

credits

released March 25, 2022

Steeve Laffont : guitare
Dominique Di Piazza : basse
Costel Nitescu : violon
Rudy Rabuffetti : guitare
Antoine Tato Garcia : guitare/voix (Feat. #track 1)

Enregistrement/mixage : Gérard Deharo - studio La buissonne
Mastering : Nicolas Baillard
Production : KaRu prod
Production exécutive : Hervé Parent
Réalisation, montage, étalonnage : Guillaume Duffner et Marion Bertault

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KaRu prod Perpignan, France

In a universe marked by mainstream culture, KaRu prod is an intermediary space in the accompaniment of rumba artists and gypsy music in the broad sense by proposing the creation of a record label.

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