Parisian tour
At the end of November 2023 Eva gave a series of concerts in Paris with her new formation the Swing 23 Quartet, in tribute to Django Reinhardt. It was a real pleasure to attend and meet some of his students at the same time. Impressions from this musical week.
Author: Pierre Bichon
Eva and her “fan club” of violinists gathered in Paris!
It was incredible to meet other Eva students in Paris for this series of concerts! They literally came from all over the planet: China, Australia, Belgium, and France too. Seeing these people in real life after seeing them on screen for two years was pretty magical. We felt a complicity between everyone, through a common pleasure that Eva’s music and her teaching gives us. And also his very communicative kindness and good humor!
It was fun to see, everyone was happy, the first being Eva, amazed to see these people around her and to play with them in real life for once! It is surprising to note that these distance learning courses bring people together much more than we think; That doesn’t make things so distant after all. Eva’s personality has a lot to do with it; his smile, his kindness, his naturalness makes you feel at ease even when you have to learn difficult things.
It was surprising to see with what ease some of them threw themselves on stage during the jams, in particular on the beautiful stage of the Duke of Lombards. They rose to the occasion, which was not easy given the level of the musicians on stage, and also with an informed audience.
This meeting was certainly an experience to be repeated; Paris, as the center of the gypsy jazz world, lends itself perfectly to an upcoming meeting to share music together.
Four very different evenings.
The week begins in a very Parisian wine bar, 18 Oberkampf. Warm atmosphere, friends of the musicians, Eva’s students; these four are playing together for the first time and it’s working incredibly well! We felt a musical and human complicity developing during this evening.
The Sunset concert is very different: still friends and students, and spectators from foreign countries. The musicians take the plunge: each will present a piece in their own language (French, Swedish, German) adding Spanish. Listening is actively attentive, participatory. The proximity to the musicians that this scene provides made me feel all the communications between the artists, even the most finely expressed. A real way to feel the music through the musicians. They interacted a lot with each other, adapting magnificently to the situations that a newly formed group inevitably creates, with humor and good humor. We were really able to appreciate all their talent, both individual and collective.
The next day, it’s beef! First, a jam at Charlie allowed two students to share the stage with Eva and other musicians in a relaxed atmosphere and a caring audience. Followed the same evening until inevitably late in the night by another “high-end” jam at the Duc des Lombards on a very beautiful stage and a demanding audience. A high-class jam, a beautiful image of what jazz can be in Paris. Not impressed, two students launched themselves on stage with flying colors!
Last stop, La Bellevilloise in the very typically Parisian Belleville district, a large room where you listen to music and brunch in the relaxed atmosphere of Sunday lunch. The four friends continued to share this beautiful energy together and communicate it to everyone!
It was a great joy to see and listen to all four of them and to share all this with Eva and her students!
This gives me new impetus to continue learning jazz violin with Eva, and I believe I am not the only one…
SWING 23
SWING 23 is the radiant Eva, the smiling Julia, the mischievous Edouard and the expressive Gustav.
From the first notes sketched, they communicate, exchange glances, observe each other, pay attention to what the others are playing and react in the moment, respond to each other. They are cheerful, often laugh whenthey like a phrase from a solo, they wink at each other, with their eyes or with the music. They truly “play” together.
And they play with politeness and respect, giving each other space: when one has finished speaking, he looks at the others to suggest speaking, an exchange of glances follows, one of the musicians accepts his invitation and the two exchange a smile. The symbiosis between these artists is magnificent to watch, their happiness in playing together is felt, is very communicative, we come away joyful. It’s a wonderful example of what sharing music can do to human beings.
The solos are masterful, each in its own style.
If Julia lays down a very stable bass on which everyone rests, she knows how to soar in solos which are both technical, but without unnecessary flashiness, and also melodious, very inspired. They are always on point, fitting into the piece and with the other solos like one of the four pieces of the puzzle. Detached sound lets each note be heard clearly for clear solos that the ear can easily understand; each solo is a renewed pleasure.
Edouard shines with his virtuosity and inventiveness. You would think that he has already said everything about this or that piece but he always manages to surprise. It combines rhythm and melody to play with the theme. Often he recalls Biréli Lagrène in his intonations, his touch, but he has his own style, very playful, very playful even. As a true conductor of the group, he is the one on whom the other three rely without ever appearing to be a leader; he is constantly in visual or auditory contact with each of the other musicians and guides one towards a solo, the other towards a rhythm or a reminder of the melody. He does not accompany a solo, but in turn supports him, carries him, pushes him, even challenges him to shine better, always with kindness and a smile.
Gustav is the most vocal of the four: he expresses himself loud and clear when something, a note, a solo, a phrase pleases him; we instantly feel the vibrations that it inspires in him, he lives the music of others. With his vocal support he accompanies the solos of his partners, he revives the audience, or shakes them up so that they participate more in the party. Without being outdone by Edouard in his virtuosity, his style of playing is significantly different, and this difference can be heard with your eyes closed. Very harmonious in his improvisations, we sense influences from great jazz guitarists, with classical and flamenco intonations which intermingle with gypsy jazz. The result is very beautiful and very original in this musical style.
And finally Eva, masterful in her interpretation, each time different, virtuoso to perfection, breathtaking even. His solos shine, carry you away in an avalanche of rhythms, arpeggios, high-pitched flights; his virtuosity exploits all the resources of the violin. She perfectly combines her classical and jazz influences with the wild rhythms of the gypsy style. When you are his student, you are impressed to see his fingers move according to his melodic and harmonic choices which follow one another at crazy speed. Each solo is a discovery, we recognize phrases that she teaches in class and which are part of her rich violinistic vocabulary. They are chained together with a maestro, we move from one to the other with such naturalness that we have the impression that it is easy. As a student we surprise ourselves to realize that we understand (almost everything) what she does: what sequence of notes she plays with what fingerings, what harmony she uses and why; what is taught in class serves to decipher his music, and it is very fulfilling to see all of this applied magnificently in the service of musicality. We receive great energy so that at the end of a piece we often have the impression of having been disheveled! And in the softer pieces, we have time to appreciate the richness of his inspirations full of sensitivity and harmonic variety. Eva lives her music; through her facial expressions we can read in the moment her reactions to what she is playing or has just played: she smiles, widens her eyes, frowns, then suddenly becomes serious. She breathes to the rhythm of the phrasing of the bow. We better understand what she performs or creates live when we pay attention to her face, her hands and her breathing in relation to what we hear with our own ears. And gradually we forget the virtuosity, all that remains is emotion. That’s the strength of the concert.