Joseph Chester – Au Revoir Tristesse – Album Review

Album Launch – Date: Friday, 13 Jun 2025 – Time: 8:00PM – Venue: Kevin Barry Recital Room, NCH.

Joe Chester is one of the busiest Irish musicians around.  Fresh from his involvement in one of last year’s finest albums with A Lazarus Soul, here is his second solo classical guitar album.  The pieces here were put together after reading Françoise Sagan’s novel Bonjour Tristesse.

Une soie énervante et douce, and La mer son rhythme incessant, are moody and brief yet gorgeous pieces based around Chester’s rolling guitar figures.  The latter features particularly dizzying guitar technique.

La lune aimable et tranquile has steady passages of guitar before transforming halfway through into a more reflective piece of music.  The final two pieces are the longest. They are complex and intricate pieces of music that take their time to reveal themselves.

This is exquisite, technical yet beautiful music and shows the range Joe Chester has, between this and his more ‘rock’ playing with A Lazarus Soul.

Une soie, énervante et douce