Bireli Lagrene (1966 - )

Few concerts have impressed me the way Bireli Lagrene did when I saw him play in Montreal with his Gipsy Project. A guitar player with an exquisite taste and great virtuosity, he is one of the most outstanding guitar players alive.

Born in Alsace, France in 1966, he was raised in the gypsy musical tradition and took guitar since an early age. He was surrounded by a family of accomplished musicians (specially his father), and it was natural he initiated in the Django Reinhardt style since his childhood.

By age 13, he was already famous, played in many festivals and made his first recording. In the 1980’s he was already touring the world and in 1986 he would find himself experimenting with fusion and playing with the great Jaco Pastorius.

During the 1990’s he would still play electric guitar, but in a more traditional setting, leaving behind the rock fusion style of the Jaco years. In 2001 he returned to his gypsy jazz roots and recorded Gypsy Project, which is one of the most amazing guitar works in recent years.

From manouche (Django) to fusion, traditional and back to his roots, Bireli Lagrene has tried it all and excelled at it. He is truly one of the most gifted jazz guitar players in the world.

Guitar Style

Bireli Lagrene is a true virtuoso and he is not shy about it. However, he doesn’t sacrifice musicality for pyrotechnics, as many fast guitar players do. Instead, he focuses his attention to a tasteful phrasing and knows when to insert fast passages.

His playing commands authority in the art of jazz guitar. Besides his speed, he can also deliver the most tasteful and delicate jazz lines.

I think of his technique as taking the gypsy style where Django Reinhardt left it due to his limitation in his left hand. This is what Django would have sounded like had he had all his fingers. Lagrene plays with Django’s technical features such as fast picking, sweep picking, arpeggios and fast scales in a whole new level. When playing electric guitar, he applies the same principles and resources of his acoustic playing.

Also, he plays the violin and is an awesome bass player. At some point in his career, he thought about continuing as a bassist instead. When playing bass, he follows finger style attack in a fashion similar to Jaco Pastorius, who had a big influence on him.

See Bireli Lagrene’s influences on the Guitar Family Tree

Gear

I’ll start with the acoustic instruments he is known to play with. Lagrene is known to like the traditional Selmer sound, as opposed to more modern models that became popular afterwards. The traditional gypsy guitar sound has a natural high volume with a better response to high notes.

Maurice Dupont guitars. For some people, either the MD50B or VR models are the closest thing you can get these days to the original Selmer guitars used by Django. Some people (like Stefan Hahl) would disagree. They usually come with a French Spruce top, Rosewood body and sides and ebony fret board. They are known for their high volume and response to higher frequencies.

From German maker Stefan Hahl, he often plays an acoustic Gitano Super De Luxe model. Stefan Hahl has a reputation as a builder of Selmer style guitars; he even repairs and appraises the original 1930’s models. In other words, he knows the Selmer secrets. The Gitano models are known for its high volume, ideal for gyspy soloing. These models are made with either Cedar or Spruce top, Rosewood sides and back, and Ebony finger board.

Also from Stefan Hahl, Lagrene has now a signature electric model. This guitar is a German Spruce archtop beauty with maple back and sides. Stefan has been the luthier of choice for Bireli Lagrene since 2003.

Stefan Hahl Bireli Lagrene Signature Model

Opposed to Maurice Dupont and Stefan Hahl guitars, Jacques Favino is known to make guitars that depart from the traditional Selmer sound. They have a reputation amongst modern gypsy jazz guitar players who favour speed, since they’re very comfortable instruments. Bireli Lagrene was known to play Favino guitars early in his career, but he doesn’t play them anymore.

Bireli Lagrene uses Michel Wegen picks. Picking techniques are of great importance to gypsy jazz playing. There are features, such as the wrist motion and the preference for downward attack that are meant to achieve a crisp, loud sound. He’s also known to use Dugain picks. These picks are made in France with hard woods and have a great ergonomic grip. I’ve tried them myself and they are a great choice, although I always recommend trying them yourself.

Finally, in his electric settings Bireli Lagrene uses the popular Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 amp. This is a powerful amp that keeps its great clean sound at virtually any sound level. This is a favourite among several jazz guitar players. I own one of these amps and couldn’t be happier with it when it comes to a nice, clean sound. I haven’t heard Bireli Lagrene using the chorus, although the JC-120 has probably the best chorus effect in the market.

Before switching to his Stefen Hahl signature model, he would use a semi-hollow Yamaha SA2200 brown sunburst archtop guitar.

Album Highlights

Routes to Django & Swing ’81. These are the two first Bireli Lagrene’s albums, recorded when he was 13 and 15 years old respectively. It is a great reference to hear the type of prodigy he was. Back then it was raw talent; eventually he would refine it on his way to the top.

Stuttgart Aria, with Jaco Pastorius. This is a live recording with the great Jaco Pastorius. It’s one of those albums that can be considered an historic event. It shows Jaco Pastorius, one of the greatest jazz talents of the 20th century with a prodigy the calibre of Bireli Lagrene. In this album, Bireli is so far away from his original comfort area. However, he shows his authority at age 20, even when he is sharing the stage with who at the time was at the very top of the world jazz scene.

This album has a classic 1980’s jazz fusion style, for my taste is a little too heavy on synthesizers. However, it is a great album.

Blue Eyes. This album is a tribute to Frank Sinatra in a traditional jazz setting, with electric guitar. It shows a tasteful Bireli Lagrene focusing on great phrasing and musicality rather than speed. To hear someone with Lagrene’s technique give priority to good taste is really refreshing. At this point, he doesn’t need to impress anyone through virtuosity and can focus on delivering a great improvisation. He even shows us he has a very decent voice, as he ventures to sing in a couple of songs. Being this a Sinatra tribute, it shows some confidence! One of my favourite jazz albums in a long time.

Gypsy Project. This album is the return of Bireli Lagrene to his gypsy jazz roots. After 20 years of experimenting with electric jazz (fusion and traditional), his turn back to gypsy jazz was long awaited. And he does when being in his best musical shape. All the tracks have been played at some point by Django. In this record, he shows the fluent nature of gypsy music, shows us his technique without overdoing it and above all, his maturity as an improviser. For anyone who admires Django Reinhardt’s music, this is an album to remember as one of the best gypsy jazz albums ever recorded.

Videos

Bireli Lagrene playing Donna Lee. Originally recorded by Charlie Parker, this song was also recorded by Jaco Pastorius in his debut album. Here you can see Bireli Lagrene’s personal phrasing. He can be an extremely fast guitar player when he decides to, however he doesn’t overplay and he always gives priority to good taste in improvisation.

Bireli Lagrene playing Birdland with Jaco Pastorius. If you know the original version with Weather Report, it is quite challenging to be a guitarist and finding the right arrangement to make up for Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. Jaco Pastorius was one of the most outstanding talents in the 20th century.

Playing I’ve Got Rhythm. Don’t get misled by Bireli Lagrene’s speed, he is an excellent improviser and his talent goes way beyond technique. Anyways, I think this is what Django Reinhardt would have sounded like if he had all his fingers.

Bireli Lagrene playing a solo in Spain. This video shows a 24-year-old Bireli Lagrene jamming with two guitar players the calibre of Al DiMeola and Larry Coryell and showing his natural talent. Spain is a piece composed by Chick Corea in 1971. In this video you can get a taste of Lagrene’s speed, which is the main purpose of this setting. Don’t get deceived by his playing in this video, his jazz phrasing goes beyond what he shows us here.

Bireli Lagrene with Al DiMeola playing a solo in Mediterranean Sundance. As with most jamming sessions featuring Al DiMeola, the performances tend to be more a showcase of technique rather than good musical taste (ask Paco de Lucia). However, I wanted to show this video to get an idea of what he can deliver from a technique point of view. Anyone who has listened to Gypsy Project or Blue Eyes can tell there is a great deal of good taste in Lagrene’s phrasing and musical style, though.