I discovered Costel Nitescu in 2006 at a guitar festival in Patrimonio, Corsica. I’d never heard of him before, but when he took the stage with a different band after my trio’s set, I enjoyed his playing immediately. In the up-tempo numbers, he displayed stunning virtuosity and an irrepressible joy. And in slow pieces, his sensitive improvisations and great tone were equally impressive.

7 years have passed since the release of my “Guitar Heroes” Album (with Tommy Emmanuel, Biréli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg as guests). I always wanted to bring the concept of mixing gypsy swing classics and original compositions with titles from other musical genres (pop, latin, western swing, etc.) to stage. I have managed to record 4 concerts over the past few years, of which the long-awaited LIVE CD with a selection of the different performances is finally available. In addition to my trio, Biréli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg are on board again. Richard Smith and Olli Soikkeli could be won as additional guests.

Joscho Stephan shapes modern gypsy swing with his playing like no other: Stephan has earned an outstanding reputation in the international guitar scene with his authentic tone, with harmonious refinement and rhythmic instinct, but above all with his breathtaking solo technique. He mainly plays acoustic guitar, but he can also be heard on electric guitar with us, and with flying colors. It was very inspiring to play with and he had a lot of interesting things to say!