Jean Pierre Danel : Guitar Connection
Excellent guitar playing, top quality musicians, professional production, set the scene for this feature packed album that is not only good value for money but also contains some interesting twists and turns in this most notable production, add to this a DVD presentation as well, and you have almost one evenings entertainment. All of this is headed by a very influential artist Jean Pierre Danel.
To me Jean Pierre in this album captures everything that a music lover could ever want, well known tracks, a few originals, and some very imaginative arrangements.

Lets first of all consider the track listing :

MISIRLOU
EUROPA
APACHE
GUITAR BOOGIE
JAMES BOND
PARISIENNE WALKWAYS
CONCERTO DE ARANJUEZ
WALK DON'T RUN
WIPE OUT
SLEEPWALK
FBI
DUELING BANGOS
ONE MORE BLUES
MINI SKIRT
A LOVE THEME FOR SABINE
WOODEN LEG STOMP
BALLAD FOR A FRIEND
JEUX INTERDITS


As you can see something for everyone who loves the sound of guitar, a bit of rock n roll, and a little background music. My personal favourites first of all is "Walk Don't Run" always did like the original Shadows version, but Jean Pierre does what I would have done with this track rocked it up a bit, the middle section has been cleverly inserted as the introduction and finally blends into the original melody we all love to listen to, however I think I mentioned this in my review a few years ago when I reviewed "Stratospheric". Moving on their are some interesting things of note with certain other tracks for instance "FBI" I must admit I expected a usual typical Shadows tribute band version, but oh no ! Definitely not, with Jean Pierre he does exactly what I would expect a musician with imagination does, he uses his own arrangement, and you can obviously tell he was very much influenced by the Brian May and the two leading front men to Status Quo in this recording(TWANG Tribute To Hank Marvin And The Shadows), and yet even then when I really think about it, he still manages to inject some Jean Pierre inspiration into it as well just to make it his own.
When it really comes down to it though, where JPD does get my vote is his inclusion of his own originals two of the most notable being "Wooden Leg Stomp" and "A Love Theme For Sabine" a nice Albert Lee style track and a very nice emotional ballad. Again I notice also on this album the track "Mini Skirt" a jazzy guitar instrumental which is one I love to listen to over and over again. But out of all the cover versions the ones I particularly enjoyed were Sleepwalk (Hank Plays Live) version and Santana's Europa.

Additionally if you thought the CD was all you were likely to get, you would be very much mistaken, because there is also a dvd that is very well presented, the DVD authoring is of a very high standard and although the whole contents is in french, I really enjoyed watching this set, it contains an inside view into the man and his music, and his session group of virtuoso's and studio engineers. The DVD contains many bonus features too, I especially enjoyed watching the TV ad promoting the album. But for those guitar players out there he actually takes the trouble to show you where to put your fingers on the fret board to play the tracks he recorded for this album, what a thoughtful guy ! It is presented with 2 videos on the screen, one camera on his pick ups and the other camera on his fret board. This dvd is well worth watching, and if you understand french then you will get the full benefit of this presentation.

Finally I would like to thank Jean Pierre for sending me the album, it has been a real pleasure evaluating his hard work. and If you want professional music set to a production to die for, then you can always rely on JPD to deliver, and whilst I write this review, Guitar Connection II is about to be released and has a certain guest star I think all of us have heard of, yes Honk !!!! No I mean Hank, sorry Jean Pierre just a joke !!! Also not forgetting France's famous Pascal Danel.

So there you have it one of France's most notable and successful guitarists Jean Pierre Danel.

Review By Chris Watts
(Sackville Records)