The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    This kind of music is my life and job so very happy to see this thread
    Django was also using electric guitar toward the end of his career, check this out with Duke..:

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Here are a couple of my recordings, this one from Django in June Festival:



    Here at about minute 1, my version of a Django tune, Anouman: (btw, I have 7 of these songs downloadable for free if anyone interested. My site is temporarily down at the moment but will be up and running soon again..)



    I also do transcriptions regularly (video + notation and tab in pdf), here's the latest, also available for free at my site currently when signing up:



    I just got back from a tour in Brasil for a gipsy jazz fest, so happy to see this kind of music growing, ciao!

    Dario

  4. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by ecj
    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.
    Evan,
    I'm not certain what you mean in your second sentence but gypsy jazz isn't scales played super fast. Like bebop it's based on chord tones. If I've misconstrued your meaning I apologize.

    As far as how did he do it? Let's begin with the very real possibility that he was a genius in the truest sense of the word. Genius is a word that's been tossed about by marketers and public relations people so much that, in regard to music today, it's almost meaningless. If we accept the estimate proposed by psychologists that only 1% to 2% of the total population are geniuses, then we can see how truly rare a thing genius really is. Even as a child, he was considered special among his tribe who were known to place a great deal of emphasis on being able to play music well.

    Django never attended school. Instead, he spent his entire childhood learning to play music under the mentorship of the older musicians in his tribe. The entirety of his formative years were devoted to developing his skills, both aural and physical, on the guitar.

    Another consideration that we have to examine is that since that time, with all of the technical developments in recording, the bar has been lowered. A lot. With multi-track recording, punch-ins, pitch correction, synching and all the other advancements in recording technology that allow engineers to "fix it in the mix", we forget that even non-genius level musicians could get it right the first time because that's what was expected. There was no room for mediocrity.

    That's how I see it.
    Regards,
    Jerome
    Last edited by monk; 11-19-2014 at 01:14 AM.

  5. #29

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    Good thoughts, Jerome. I meant "how did he do it" sort of rhetorically. I agree that he was a genius. He's got to be one of the 4 or 5 greatest performers on the instrument in history.

    I've seen a lot of local gypsy guys who do a lot of scalar shredding. I was just noting that despite the incredible facility, Django's solos just sound a whole lot better, and he only does the scale things occasionally.

    I feel a similar way about Hendrix. He doesn't have a 10th of the technique of a lot of the later rock guitarists, but his solos are just...better.

    Still work hard on my technique, but I wonder how to quantify exactly what's going on with these guys that make them so good. Has something to do with their time and phrasing, but I'm not sure how to capture what it is that makes their improvisations so pleasing.

  6. #30

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    We haven't mentioned John Jorgenson yet, so here you go.

  7. #31

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    Couldn't agree more Jerome, many of Django's recordings are incredible by today's standards (especially for my taste, the Rome recordings) and considering Django was a pro by the age of 12, playing every night with the best accordionists and violinists (both instruments he "dabbled with", as well as piano), he was so ahead of the curve. He died at 43 and left an incredible amount of recordings, considering it wasn't as easy to record in the first place...and today I think he wold be floored at the amount of interest his music is continuing to generate, with so many new festivals every year...
    As far as the technique, more so than scales or arpeggios, it's the downstroke and reststroke that help make the sound (and the fingerings that as a result change a bit), but I hear a lot of Django in Jim Hall also (as intention), who doesn't pick with Django's technique, so it's all relative I guess..

  8. #32

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    I need to mention my favories--Boulou and Elios Ferre...

    Boulou's just a monster, and he doesn't get the credit a lot of the lightning fast modern guys get because he's addmittedly not as "clean."...and he doesn't conform. That's the thing that bugs me about the modern gypsy jazz guys a bit...they're hard to tell apart.

  9. #33

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    Evan,
    There are only a few of recordings of Django that I'm aware of that were made before the fire and those have him playing six string banjo or guitar while accompanying singers. So we don't really know "how" he played then but we can assume that he used all four fingers on his left hand.

    Post-fire, we know that Django spent 18 months recuperating, and having only two fully functioning LH fingers for playing melodies and limited use of the ring finger and pinky for chords, he re-taught himself how to play and came to visualize the fingerboard in a way that allowed him to play melodies and improvise by moving along the length of the fingerboard.

    Most of his solos have few scalar passages except in the lower positions because it's difficult to play scales in higher positions with only two fingers. The heart of his style is arpeggios played along the neck and ornamented with enclosures.

    John Jorgenson did a good job of teaching the two finger melodic approach in his Gypsy Jazz Guitar book/DVD/CD sets.

    The thing that always gets me whenever I see a film clip of Django playing is how natural and effortless it looks.
    Regards,
    Jerome
    Last edited by monk; 11-19-2014 at 01:16 AM.

  10. #34

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    Jeff's mention of Boulou and Elios Ferre' is sufficient reason to briefly discuss what has been referred to as "The Ferret Dynasty".

    The Ferret Brothers, "Sarane", "Matelo" and "Baro" and their cousin, "Challain" were contemporaries of Django and, at different time accompanied him on records and in nightclubs.

    Pierre "Baro" Ferret was one of Reinhardt's closest friends as well his rival. Baro was considered by many to be Django's equal and is highly regarded as the composer of many "Valses Bebop". Baro appears in the video I posted as the guy in the middle wearing the fedora at the card table.

    Jean "Matelo" Ferret was also highly regarded as a guitarist and is the person who kept Django's composition Montaigne de St. Genevieve (Django's Waltz) from being lost to history by playing it after Django's death and recording it in the early 1960s. He is the father of Boulou and Elios Ferre'.

    Ettiene "Sarane" Ferret was the oldest of the brothers and appeared in movies and worked in various groups both live and on record.

    There are numerous audio and video clips of all three Ferret Brothers on YouTube as well as clips of Boulou and Elios Ferre'.
    Last edited by monk; 11-17-2014 at 02:25 PM.

  11. #35

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    Also important in my opinion, in the history of this music are Babik Reinhardt, Wasso Grunholz, Fapy Lafertin, Lulu Reinhardt, Hansche Weiss, Titi Winterstein. In the 60s and 70s they had a lot less exposure but they really bridged the world of Django with the world of the Rosenbergs, Debarre, Lagrene, etc.

  12. #36

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    Excellent point, Dario. The players who kept the music alive deserve more recognition. Fans of Jazz Manouche owe them a debt of gratitude. I especially enjoy Fapy Lafertin's playing.

  13. #37

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    Some of those Titi Winterstein recordings with Fapy on guitar are my favorite gypsy jazz recordings ever...

  14. #38

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    I listen to gypsy jazz a lot but again, almost solely Django.

    As has been mentioned its the playfulness of his solos, but also (and i know this is a little cheesy) but he seems to be able to capture despair/hope/excitement and combine it all with interjections of humor somehow, which makes it all the more poignant.

  15. #39

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    Young Django with six string banjo.Gypsy Jazz-zdjango-jpg

  16. #40

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    I like a lot

    Tchavolo Schmitt & Samy Daussat :



    christophe

  17. #41

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    Here's a video that I found of Tchavolo Schmitt and Fapy Lafertin playing. The info in the video says that this was the first time that they had met. Two guys who meet for the first time and play like this makes a strong argument for internalizing repertoire. Just sit down and play tunes. No fake books. A real jam session, just like in the old days.

  18. #42

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    It's easy to trash today's young players but some do strive for something besides shredding. Jimmy Rosenberg has a SOUND.

    Also he seems to be really improvising instead of rattling off memorized phrases;



    His struggles with drugs have been documented but maybe he's having difficulty finding what he wants to express musically. If you have a good sound like Jimmy you don't need to show off. He can sound poor at times but that's because he's really improvising, not just playing it safe.

  19. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stevebol
    Also he seems to be really improvising instead of rattling off memorized phrases;
    That's actually Django's solo pretty much note for note.

    Last edited by Jehu; 11-18-2014 at 11:06 PM.

  20. #44

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    From what I have read about the culture that surrounds gypsy players "copying" a solo is seen as a great compliment, or accolade to the original player.

    I think strict learning of djangos solos plays an important part in developing players into improvisers.

    I also find it very interesting because it is music almost solely taught by ear.

    I had a lesson at Samois last year with a great player but I unfortunately never caught his name. It didnt matter that the lesson was being translated from dutch to french (which I also cannot speak) because the chap would just play a lick/chord progression repeatedly until I had copied it correctly.

    No explanation of shapes/frets or positions, and I felt like i was learning at warp speed.

  21. #45

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    This was posted recently on Djangobooks. Adrien Moignard (on the left) is my current hero. He's a guy who, like people like Bireli, has ventured well beyond Django's time-tested licks. But there is something about him that I much prefer to Bireli... a bit more cool and laid-back, if that makes any sense at these tempos.



    If this video doesn't make you smile, you need to get your smiler looked at.

  22. #46

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    And he uses his fourth finger a lot! <gasp>

  23. #47

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    A favorite of my recently is Olivier Kikteff from Les Doigts de l'Homme.



    I also have to plug a local group that I like very much. They are starting to get some international buzz. John Larson is including them on a compilation album being put out next year.

    www.ultrafaux.bandcamp.com

  24. #48

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    Jaco

    Thank you for your original "Gypsy Jazz" post- I was so happy to see Django lovers here! My husband, Bob, and I are coming to Gypsy Jazz from jazz, swing, bossa nova, and originals, and were surprised to find out how hard this style is to learn! It was like learning guitar all over again from scratch-different guitar, pick, technique, rhythm, etc. We have about 7 tunes so far, and learning more…I bought Bob a used (one previous owner) Maurice Dupont M-50. It came with nice low action, easy to play, with a Big Tone installed. I had Maurice Dupont make me a Jaques Favino copy, but without the 3- piece neck. I had him build me a thinner neck, to fit my hand, and also had him install a Big Tone pick-up. It is so loud, I have to turn down when we are plugged in! We live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco, and I haven't found any one local who could teach me the correct La Pompe rhythm. We drove up to the Djangofest in Marin, and attended a workshop with Robin Nolan which was helpful. I know there are tons of lessons, DVD's, youtube videos, etc. out there, but I like the "teacher to student" approach myself. I figure this will help me avoid bad habits, and hopefully get me into good technique from the get go. We just finished a "masterclass jam" with Dorado Schmitt and his group
    at the SF Jazz center last week. Paul Mehling's group performed there, that afternoon, and he came in towards the end of the class. We are going to set up some lessons with him. I know you are suppose to play this style with feeling, and of course, swing! I'm just into good technique on guitar, so I am probably not alone, expecting to get this style down in a short amount of time-it is just so different than "American" style jazz! I imagine a lot of guitar players have gone through the same thing…
    In case any one new to Gypsy Jazz wants to know about Django, Gypsy Jazz, players, Paris clubs, etc these books were great:

    Django - The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend by Michael Dregni
    Gypsy Jazz - In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing by Michael Dregni
    Last edited by Michelle; 11-21-2014 at 07:40 PM.

  25. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by Michelle
    Jaco

    Thank you for your original "Gypsy Jazz" post- I was so happy to see Django lovers here! My husband, Bob, and I are coming to Gypsy Jazz from jazz, swing, bossa nova, and originals, and were surprised to find out how hard this style is to learn! It was like learning guitar all over again from scratch-different guitar, pick, technique, rhythm, etc. We have about 7 tunes so far, and learning more…I bought Bob a used (one previous owner) Maurice Dupont M-50. It came with nice low action, easy to play, with a Big Tone installed. I had Maurice Dupont make me a Jaques Favino copy, but without the 3- piece neck. I had him build me a thinner neck, to fit my hand, and also had him install a Big Tone pick-up. It is so loud, I have to turn down when we are plugged in! We live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco, and I haven't found any one local who could teach me the correct La Pompe rhythm. We drove up to the Djangofest in Marin, and attended a workshop with Robin Nolan which was helpful. I know there are tons of lessons, DVD's, youtube videos, etc. out there, but I like the "teacher to student" approach myself. I figure this will help me avoid bad habits, and hopefully get me into good technique from the get go. We just finished a "masterclass jam" with Dorado Schmitt and his group
    at the SF Jazz center last week. Paul Mehling's group performed there, that afternoon, and he came in towards the end of the class. We are going to set up some lessons with him. I know you are suppose to play this style with feeling, and of course, swing! I'm just into good technique on guitar, so I am probably not alone, expecting to get this style down in a short amount of time-it is just so different than "American" style jazz! I imagine a lot of guitar players have gone through the same thing…
    In case any one new to Gypsy Jazz wants to know about Django, Gypsy Jazz, players, Paris clubs, etc these books were great:

    Django - The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend by Michael Dregni
    Gypsy Jazz - In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing by Michael Dregni
    I think there's a practical short-cut to this- Robin Nolan's chord voicings and Denis Chang's rhythm technique. Here's Denis. He's self-taught and very good at the pomp;



    This DVD will show you how to do the pomp. Denis knows how to break it down. It's pretty easy to learn but also easy to forget;

    Denis Chang DVD (All regions) JAZZ MANOUCHE: THE ART OF ACCOMPANIMENT - DjangoBooks.com

    Robin Nolan ha a number of books and I like his voicings. It's basically 3-4 voice chords.

  26. #50

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    ^^^
    I have a bunch of his books. Don't know if his chords are 'authentic' but they sound good to me. Just one of his books will give you an good idea of his system with chords. It's actually pretty simple.