We Brits like to think of ourselves as European—or 55 percent of us do, judging by a 2023 YouGov survey on Brexit “Bregret” (well, quelle surprise). But even before my beloved EU passport was prised from my baguette-baking hands in 2016, it’s fair to say that the UK was never really qualified to be in this Continental club: we don’t dress well enough, our food isn’t good enough, and our music isn’t cool enough—the last of which is well evidenced by Corner Café.
The latest offering from guitarist Greg Ruby and accordionist Steve Rice (a Torontonian and a Philadelphian respectively) is a love letter to old-time Euro jazz and the forms it inspired, featuring Parisian guitars and South American rhythms in a Pan-Atlantic playlist almost designed to taunt “Remoaners” like me. It’s a twelve-track disc of original joint compositions by Ruby and Rice—with the exception of tracks 11 and 12, which they penned individually.
Ruby was at the leading edge of the naughties Reinhardt revival, has previously released chart-topping albums, has taught manouche guitar at Django in June and DjangoFest NW, and authored the Pearl Django Play-Along Book back in 2005. His collaborations with Rice go back to 2013, when the accordionist invited him to take part in a recording project for TV. They were soon writing music together and this album, released late in 2022, is the long-awaite
