Although he is from Fontainebleau, it was really in the U.S. that Stéphane Wrembel made a name for himself as a virtuoso guitarist, Django Reinhardt expert, and composer for Woody Allen films, including Midnight in Paris.
For several years now, Wrembel has been transcribing what Django called “improvisations” - pieces for solo guitar made familiar by radio recordings.
Wrembel has immersed himself in the study of these improvisations, which he sees as a cycle of classic preludes, closer in spirit to Ravel and Debussy than the Hot Club de France.
Django the Impressionist is the result of this exploration of little-known part of Reinhardt’s world, with a recording planned for release this autumn along with a series of solo concerts, the first of which will take place at Opéra Underground.
A rereading of Django that goes beyond the clichéd image of the moody gypsy to focus on his music’s classical and impressionist heritage.