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Just curious, how many other members here are into gypsy jazz? Django Rheinhardt, Birreli Legrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, etc?
I would like to learn some of Django Reinhardt's gypsy jazz standards.
It would be awsome if you would tell me how/where I can find some scores, because it looks to hard for me to play them by ear.
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04-24-2009 09:11 AM
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You should get my friend Stephane Wrembel's book "Getting into Gypsy Jazz".
Also get "Gypsy Picking" by Michael Horowitz.
Stephane Wembel's website has backing tracks that you can download.
You can also check out the Djangobooks forum.
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Great style of music. I started with Gypsy picking by Horowitz. Wish I had time to practice more... and wished my musical memory worked better! I learn this stuff and then promptly forget it.
D
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I am just starting to learn that style myself.
I like to use Band in a Box and have it loop one single chord (slowly) on which I solo, then two then three untill I get the full chorus. Then I will crank up the tempo.
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try this (french site), you have to be registered and it's free
http://grilles-manouches.net/:
have a nice time!
michel
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I recommend above all Stochelo Rosenbergs online gypsy jazz guitar school:
Welcome to the Rosenberg Academy
Denis Chang has a good site with lessons with professional gypsy jazz players:
DC Music School
On Denis' site there is a free lesson with Dutch gypsy jazz guitar virtuoso Paulus Schäfer. It's a great package of lessons with etudes to help you learn the gypsy jazz language.
These are the best places IMO. Top players, top teachers. I don't recommend books for gypsy jazz. They don't capture the nuances of the music and you'll likely end up sounding like a typical "gadjo" player.
The best way is to watch the greatest players and copy them to the exact detail. Learn as many songs and solos as possible. When you know 20-30 songs with solos, you'll be a decent improviser. That's how the gypsies learn, and in fact how the jazz guitar greats of the bebop era learned too except they learned from records.
I don't know if there are any rules against linking to other forums(I'll take the chance), but there is a vibrant community over at the Djangobooks forums. It's a good place to ask questions. There is activity every day and the posters are enthusiastic about Djangos music. Recent Discussions — DjangoBooks Forum
I hope this helps get you started!
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What's a "gadjo" player?
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Non-gypsy player. As in a person not of gypsy descent. I believe.
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I heard my first Django record in 1970. I've been a fan since then.
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Count me in: Rosenberg Trio, Angelo Debarre, Stephane Wrembel and many others. Picking and right hand is completely different from what I am used to but I'll go through long periods where that is all I work on.
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Big fan here! Birelli, Rosenberg trio, Joscho Stephan (in particular), Django. I love the music and the technique and I spend most of my practice time these days getting into that.
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I love that stuff. Started with Django but has branched out since. Really like Frank Vignola, who does some Gypsy jazz but other sorts as well, all superb.
Here's Frank and Andreas Oberg doing "Limehouse Blues"
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I'm in. A few years ago I met a violinist that was on the teaching staff at USC. It turned out he was a huge Grappelli fan and a monster sight reader of course, being classically trained. We practiced the rep-it was/is a real workout for me. Not to say I'm any good at it, however it sure is a challenge. We did a monthly gig at a Basque social club for while.
The instruments can sure cause a bad case of GAS. Although I lusted after a Dupont for a long time and played several, my current rig of a Manouche Latcho Drom Djanology w/Big Tone thru a Shertler Unico gets the job done.
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Here's Frankie V. and Tommy E. having a go at Swing 42 backstage at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville TN.
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Love Gypsy jazz, spent about an hour practicing Improvisation #2 today.
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After posting the clip of Clint Strong playing After You've Gone in the Western Swing/Hillbilly Jazz/Rockabilly thread. I thought a couple of clips of Django playing the same tune would be in order for this thread.
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Once more with After You've Gone by Joscho Stephan in Nashville 2014.
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Every time someone posts some gypsy jazz, I get on a kick of listening to a ton of it, am super wowed by how incredible the players are, consider trying to convert to that technique, then listen to some Django.
At that point I am floored by how much better Django is than all the new guys, and I realize that, despite Django's own incredible technique, maybe I don't really want to just play scales super fast.
Seriously, Django is unreal. How did he do it. Back in the day of one-take, no comps, no punch-in. Perfect time. Perfect phrasing.
Those old dudes were ridiculous. I think that about Charlie Christian all the time, too. I know in some ways the music was more limited in its demands, but...damn.
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Joscho Stephan and his trio doing "Sweet Georgia Brown."
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Frank and Joscho doing "Minor Swing"
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I was actually going to post a very similar viewpoint, in that, whilst intending no disrespect whatsoever to the young lions keeping this wonderful music alive, I do feel that sometimes D'jango's melodicism gets overlooked. There's such genius to Django's improvisations and compositions, that they surpass his technique, and go straight to the heart of the listener. Definitely some of the greatest music of all time.
Originally Posted by ecj
Another player in this genre who, I feel, understood the importance of melody over technique was Henri Crolla. An ex-patriate Italian, and contemporary (and friend) of D'jango's.
Last edited by pubylakeg; 11-16-2014 at 07:03 PM.
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Thanks for that clip, pubylakeg. That was delightful. The thing that does seem to set Django and his contemporaries apart from many of today's younger players is that they did place a premium on melodicism when they soloed. I'll take that any day.
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I really dig it, but like a couple of other posters mentioned I always just go back to Django himself. Sure, he had monstrous technique, but there is always such playfulness and joy in his playing that a lot of the gypsy jazz that came after doesn't have. There seems to be a heavy emphasis on macho athleticism in a lot of the more recent stuff. Very show-offy. It's probably the same reason why I could never get into flamenco even though I played classical for many years.
I think when it comes down to it I'm far more into the "swing" of Gypsy Swing than I am the "gypsy".
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Did the whole gypsy scene exist with folks using the Selmer guitars before Django, or did everyone pick it up after him?
I'm just curious where he came from. I know the violin had been used traditionally, but it seems like flat picked 6-string guitar was pretty new around the turn of the 20th century.
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The guitar and violin were always part of the gypsy musical heritage. For obvious reasons, they preferred instruments that were light and portable. Which probably explains why there is no longstanding tradition of gypsy piano or pipe organ music. Originally Posted by ecj
Like Eddie Lang and his American contemporaries, Django began his musical career playing banjo, albeit a six string banjo-guitar.
His first jobs as a guitarist were in Musette ensembles and accompanying singers.
When he started to attempt to play American Jazz, he filtered it through his Gypsy musical sensibilities. So basically, Django Reinhardt invented gypsy jazz. Until him, it didn't exist.
The Selmer guitar first appeared in 1932 as The Selmer-Maccaferri guitar which had a 12 fret neck, steel strings and the D hole. Reinhardt seems to have adopted this instrument shortly after he and Grappelli formed The Quintet.
Maccaferri left the Selmer Company in 1934 and shortly thereafter, Selmer began producing the Modele Jazz with a 14 fret neck and the small oval soundhole.
The Modele Jazz with its light weight, steel strings, loud volume and quick response became Django's favorite instrument and he would play them, with a few exceptions, until the end of his life.
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