Lev Lazinskiy

Faux Frenchmen

update 6/2/2024: this was imported from a blog I kept on the University of Cincinnati home page service that they offered to students. Its’ been removed now, how rude, but lucky for me the web archive captured a single snapshot.

I saw the Faux Frenchmen twice this week, and purchased three of their albums from Shake it Records. It has been a real treat to have the chance to really sit down and listen to them. About a year ago I was listening to NPR and there was a story about Stephane Wrembel who just finished writing the sountrack for the Woody Allen film “Midnight in Paris”. This was the first time that I have ever heard the style of music known as Gypsy Swing or Gypsy Jazz and I absolutely fell in love with it. The music is colorful, fun, exciting, and you cannot help but tap your foot when you listen to it. The bass parts in all of the songs are wonderful and inspire me to finally buckle down and get a good upright bass so hopefully one day I will be able to play like that.

The Fuax Frenchman play every Wed night at Sitwells Coffee House in clifton, and their music matches the style of stephan wrembel and ultimately the father of gypsy swing - Django Reinhardt. This is truly an awesome style of music, If you have never heard it - you owe it to yourself to try it out, especially if you like instrumental or jazz music.

I was driving home and heard a bass solo on Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing” – it was absolute heaven. Perhaps I am biased being a bass player, but I always appreciate music that let’s the bass take over sometimes and have an opportunity to shine.