20.01.2010 – Quecumbar London

Tcha Limberger is a performer to watch out for

‘Saturday marks the centenary of the great Gypsy Swing guitarist Django Reinhardt, which is why London’s premier venue for this genre of music is hosting a nine-day (sold-out) festival in celebration.
With candles, potted plants, posters and photographs, Le QuecumBar evokes a brasserie in Django’s heyday.
“The reason you’re all crushed up together is because that’s what it was like in the Twenties and Thirties,” declared Sylvia Rushbrooke, Le QuecumBar’s larger-than-life hostess.
Last night’s performer wasn’t the best-known artist in the festival but he was the real thing.
Born in Belgium (as was Django), Tcha is son of Vivi Limberger, who played in the Waso quartet which pioneered the international revival of Gypsy Swing.
Tcha – who is blind from birth – is both a spectacular violinist and guitar player and told a personal story for virtually every song, most of them in Romanes, a dialect of the Manouche Gypsies.
He’s a performer to watch out for. This was music straight from the soul, played in the perfect setting – one of London’s hidden gems.’

SIMON BROUGHTON