The music by accordion duo Jean-Pierre Guiran and Cherie de Boer is delicate almost to the point of minimalism. Just two accordions, one playing mostly single-line melodies while the other plays crisp little rhythms in chords. They try on a lot of different styles like hats in a thrift store – swing, Caribbean, Latin, Yiddish, and of course French – and they all have the pensive quality of someone deciding which one suits best. It’s appealing in a quiet, unpretentious way. A very sweet, understated release.
Review by Peggy Latkovich, Dirty Linen, The magazine of folk and world music, USA. April/May 2007
In the course of defining a harmonious world Jean Pierre Guiran and Cherie de Boer are in a world made up of little things one could say, but that does not mean things of little importance. Guiran, who is the composer of nearly all the tunes, always retains a welcoming sound, where melodies are always memorable and discords have no right to be present. This happens despite the varied musical styles from tango to waltz, from swing to klezmer music. Rather than describe the individual tunes which despite their variety remain strangely homogenous and therefore difficult to say which one in particular stands out given the high level of all of them, it is perhaps easier to allow the listener to approach the musicality of the Dutch duo via the fact that in the accompanying booklet there is a poem by T Buwe entitled “Home”, or the cover which has a delightful watercolour by De Boer, or indeed how the title itself leads to the poeticism of the accordion pair. Here then, listening to the CD and recalling all these aspects, it is a little like being invited to someone’s house where the cordial, never overwhelming, conversation allows us to spend a very pleasant afternoon enjoying some pastries and sipping a tea.
Reviewed by Renato Belardinelli, December 2006
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