Lollo Meier

Among the gypsy jazz musicians that play guitar in the style of D'jango Reinhardt, there are a few that really stand out. Lollo, a Dutch gypsy, was raised on gypsy Jazz and started playing at the age of 12 with members of his family. Lollo made it his goal in life to carry on the music of D'jango Reinhardt. His technique and suppleness are amazing. His music is refreshing, not the standard tunes that are often heard in this genre. His unique style of playing has resulted in his performance today which is an extraordinary talent, simply because he makes music he loves. In addition, he is an accomplished composer of new tunes which have that genuine D'jango flavour. Step back a few years and you would have heardmany guitarists like Lollo Meier in the cafes of continental Europe. These days the world of Gypsy Jazz seems almost void of the cheerful breezy musical romance that the name suggests. It has very little harmony, scant respect for tone, and too many notes to even count. Where many in the style concentrate on producing barrages of notes, Lollo squeezes out phrases like poetry. Where you’d hear one-dimensional harmonic lines, you hear Lollo fluttering through the harmony like sunshine. Where often the music would follow strict stereotypes, you’ll find here a musician breaking the current mold by giving more than a nod to the early masters of Gypsy Jazz and a great respect for the originators of this style of music. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.