Gaucho: Deep Night
Gaucho
Deep Night (Gaucho Productions)
www.gauchojazz.com
Rating: 
It’s not a rule of thumb exactly, but a safe bet: any record which includes a musical comb, washboard or cheek percussion can’t be bad. All three appear at key moments of Deep Night, the third release from Gaucho, a San Francisco outfit which has held down a weekly gig at the city’s Amnesia club for five years running.
Although billed as a gypsy jazz band in the tradition of Django Reinhardt, Gaucho actually makes café music in the broadest sense. Reaching beyond Django’s famed “hot club” sound, the group incorporates New Orleans style stomps and drags, Parisian waltz-musette, Latin warmth and old-world melancholy in a gleefully heady, infectiously swinging blend.
At the forefront is David Ricketts, whose breezy guitar picking makes a nice foil for the more sober accordion of Rob Reich. They set the mood, but the sound of the group is incomplete without the freewheeling rhythm of drummer Pete Devine and horn player Ralph Carney. Both have a “play anything” sense of unbridled fun, which yields not only the aforementioned comb and cheeks but also a good deal of this disc’s abundant charm. Carney plays just about any instrument a man can blow into, and renders saxes, clarinets and trumpet alike with sassy, naughty flair. Michael Groh holds the center with his spot-on guitar rhythms, while Ari Munkres turns in a couple of fat, sweet-toned bass solos. Guest guitarist Craig Ventresco adds a loose-limbed ragtime sound to four tracks.
Further analysis of this exuberant disc would defeat the point. The world — and jazz — have been quite serious enough lately. Lighten up and swing with Gaucho.
Filed Under: CD Reviews
Sounds like great fun. I love reviews that refer to things as “exuberant”. I love music that has fun and this sounds just the thing. Thanks for telling me about it.
I wholeheartedly agree with giving Gaucho’s “Deep Night” five stars…discriminative jazz ears and freewheeling dancers alike have been faithful fans of this group for the last five years, where in the Bay Area they’re able to hear them play several if not more days a week in and out of the city.
This album adds to their impressive discography, and the rest of us who aren’t blessed to live in the City By The Bay can once again be privvy to this world too.
However, I was suprised that you only mentioned Rob Reich’s “somber” accordion player in such light. I agree with your assesment of the rest of the band’s delicious mastery of this genre and Gaucho’s unique take on it – especially bandleader and lead guitarist Dave Ricketts who manages to impress and charm the listener with each song – but…”somber”? …Really?
If by somber you mean soulful, which I believe you may, then I can relate, but Rob is one of the most musical players I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard many; he’s playful, lyrical, and truly sublime.
Thanks for the comments!
Actually, I described Reich’s accordion as “sober,” not “somber,” by which I meant that his sound as captured on this disc is less freewheeling than the rest of the band, a bit more reserved, and offers a sort of counterweight which helps to anchor the music.
But I take your point, and your descriptions of his playing as soulful and lyrical are certainly accurate.
Woops! Thanks for the nice response, Forrest.