Duo Joscho Stephan & Peter Autschbach
The world-famous gypsy jazz guitarist Joscho Stephan, who is known as a highly virtuoso interpreter of the Django Reinhardt genre, started a duo with Peter Autschbach in 2020. The two don't play gypsy swing, but an enthralling mix of jazzy pieces and their own compositions. Their interaction always turns out to be an equally exciting and entertaining summit meeting of two outstanding musical personalities. They communicate humorously, showing their stylistically flexible playing on different guitars. Since the founding of their duo, Joscho Stephan and Peter Autschbach have played many concerts and produced the joint album "Sundowner", which has been released on CD and vinyl LP. The new duo is featured in a cover story of the magazine "Akustik Gitarre", in which the editor Michael Lohr expressed his enthusiasm:
"The different guitars of Autschbach, from the Gittler to a Striebel baritone and his workhorse (Striebel nylon string cutaway), plus Stephans Volkert to the fabulous Gibson L5, which elicits Stephans Gypsy-Touch especially liquid-creamy sounds, pamper the ears, while the relaxed rapport between the musicians and their confident, entertaining demeanor instantly capture the audience for the two guitarists. Autschbach's surprising singing comes freely and easily on 'Centerpiece', which he plays with witty, precise chords on the steelstring guitar (built by Peter Finger) accompanied while Joscho Stephan is soloing on his Volkert. You can see and hear the impressive flexibility of both guitarists between picking, hybrid picking, rapid single-string improvisations and sometimes almost baroque counterpoint passages. If you think there can't be more, the two come up with something even better. To put the whole thing in a nutshell: the title of the joint album 'Sundowner' actually captures everything in its title. Because this duo offers a great cocktail of skill, joy in playing and taste - with this music you can end the day in beauty."