Whether it is "essential" or not is up to
jazz
fans to debate, but this budget two-disc
Essential Collection
of material by
Django Reinhardt
and
Stephane Grappelli
contains no less than 51 selections and offers brilliant performances by the
gypsy
duo along with their
Hot Club of France
band from the 1930s and '40s. Sound quality is fair to good throughout, as it seems most of these cuts were taken from original master tapes and not 78s or acetates. Of course the band covered some stellar material such as
"Jeepers Creepers,"
Irving Berlin
's
"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,"
"Georgia on My Mind,"
and a number of stellar originals such as
"Hungaria,"
the
"HCQ Strut,"
"Stompin' at Decca"
among them. For the money, this is a fine collection. ~ Thom Jurek