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LOLLO MEIER
Raised on Gypsy swing from an early age, he is a guitar master, composer, bandleader and arranger, Lollo comes from an elite family of Gypsy players and is cousin to the great Fapy Lafertin and Stochelo Rosenberg. His goal: to carry on the music of Django, with a style and technique that’s traditional, melodious, lyrical, sensitive and joyful. His mellifluous compositions have a refreshing authentic Django flavour and are played with extraordinary talent, unique style and amazing suppleness that clearly reflects that he makes music he loves. His Quartet is sought after around the globe for private functions and renowned jazz festivals, famous for playing lesser known Django tunes and his own compositions. A man of style, grace and humour, Lollo’s pure melodious playing touches his audiences and makes Django’s music as fresh today as it was 80 years ago. As well as performing, he spends much of his time teaching sought-after master-classes, sharing his artistry and passing down Django’s legacy. A remarkable man, with a remarkable style of playing. Out of 15,000 world entries in the 2005 International Song Writing competition, Nashville USA, Lollo Meier became a finalist with Melody for Le QuecumBar, with honouree status and became part of the top 1.4% of entrants.
“Learning to play the guitar with Lollo means that you can throw away any books you bought on this subject. His technique is amazing. When he plays rhythm it sounds like 12 strings instead of 6. You hear a train leaving the station, a power that I have never heard before. Oh my God how does he do that? I fooled myself for a while thinking it must be his self-made plectrum so I tried all the plectrums I could lay my hands on but than I realised the painful truth, it's the motion, the motor, it's the right hand it's like walking through a forest and when you come home you realize that you can't remember seeing a single tree. Learning the chords is one thing but starting up the diesel-train is a different ballgame. Better watch his right hand rather than his left hand it holds the key! Lollo gave me his secret, he gave me Django”.
A quote by one of his pupils Paul Prévoo
www.gypsymusic.nl
www.myspace.com/lollomeier
Press
“It felt like the legendary Django Reinhardt was performing again”
Zutphen Paper 2001.
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“We lit a candle and were given grace, so much beauty, so much harmony and so much variation and so much of Lollo”..
Pedro Ramacher, after the CD- presentation, southern Holland newspaper
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“Gipsy blood is running through the veins of this top gypsy guitar musician and band leader Lollo Meier”.
Dagblad de Limburger, Dr Jazz, Harry Sillen.
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Lollo Meier's very great composition Melody for Le Quecumbar was entered in the jazz catagory of the 2005 International Songwriting competition Nashville USA
The ISC received almost 15,000 entries from 80 countries, and the finalists selected represent 1.4% of the total number of entries.
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Django Station www.djangostation.com
Hondarribia
This second album of Lollo Meier refers to the sound of the second quintet of Django Reinhardt, the lesser known period of the forties with Hubert Rostaing with the clarinet. Lollo Meier and André Donni do not hide their admiration for this formidable clarinettist of Django and the result exceeds our hopes; with Domenica Piérard and Jonny Gee in the rhythm section, the two soloists offer up a marvellous homage, without hustle but... in music! Great spirit and very Hot Club! Also three splendid compositions of Lollo: two whirling waltzs (Melody for "Quecumbar" which turns and will turn a long time, and Hondarribia with a superb arrangement) and also a pretty ballad (the La Route de Paris whose intro will work the fingers in the thatched cottages!). The guitarist appears a formidable melodist here, very much like the musical quality and singing air that one associates with another formidable improviser, Fapy Lafertin. Virtuosity and technique, always present but remaining in the service of the music; one is in the spirit of Django, no doubt! As for Andre Donni, his playing marries that of Lollo admirably; these two were there! A soft and light sound, a constant inventiveness, lyrical flights never shouting at us... On the ballades, one would believe that the wind is blowing delicately! A very pretty disc, made from the heart and which you should order directly from the producer!
Django Station
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"...Brilliancies came and went so fast that there was hardly time to applaud..." JACK MASSARIK - LONDON EVENING STANDARD
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Quant à Lollo c’est un styliste dans la lignée de Fapy Lafertin dont le phrasé virtuose à la belle articulation (...) est toujours au service de la musique et de la sensibilité ; il joue autant avec le cœur qu’avec les doigts et surtout laisse la musique respirer !
Francis Couvreux (Etudes Tziganes)
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CD Lollo Meier André Donni " Hondarribia " Autoproduction 2005
Deuxième disque du guitariste manouche hollandais Lollo Meier qui a trouvé les partenaires qu'il lui fallait : André Donni, clarinette, Dominique Pierrard, un temps compagnon de route de Waso, guitare d'accompagnement et Jonny Gee, contrebasse : un quartet irréprochable qui se réfère à une période moins étudiée de Django, (celle de la guerre où l'illustre manouche a remplacé le violon de Grappelli resté en Angleterre, par la clarinnette d'Hubert Rostaing), et qui l'interprète de manière très classieuse. La section rythmique au swing léger et aérien déroule un tapis aux deux solistes particulièrement inspirés : comme dirait Alain Antonietto, le clarinettiste ne couine pas ! Quant à Lollo c'est un styliste dans la lignée de Fapy Lafertin dont le phrasé virtuose à la belle articulation (il était plus crispé sur la scène du festival Django Reinhardt de Samois en juin dernier) est toujours au service de la musique et de la sensibilité (cf son chorus sur " lentement Mademoiselle ") ; il joue autant avec le cœur qu'avec les doigts et surtout laisse la musique respirer. ! 14 titres alternent Django (" Daphné ", " mélodie au crépuscule ", " minor swing ", " nuages ") et les standards (" just one of those things ", " I surrender dear ", " China boy ", " I've found a new baby "…) dans des versions haut de gamme. Lollo signe aussi 3 belles compositions : " melody for le Quecumbar ", " la route de Paris ", magnifique ballade sentimentale et " Hondarribia ", swing enlevé. Avec ce très beau disque de facture très classique, le quartet de Lollo Meier devrait logiquement faire parler de lui et trouver rapidement un label !
Francis Couvreux