Gypsy jazz must know tunes

**mr. beaumont** · 08-17-2010, 12:20 PM

I recently jammed with a cat who plays in this style--we did the following tunes:

limehouse blues
tears
all the things you are
all of me
for issac (rosenberg trio tune)
and a couple of originals

we've decided to do "nuages" next time we jam as well.

What are the big "must know" Gypsy jazz tunes. I'm absolutely loving this because it's like starting over again--I feel like a beginner!!!

**lindydanny** · 08-17-2010, 12:29 PM

I would add "Minor Swing" as it seems to be extremely popular.

Also, I've played through a bit of "Swing de Paris" and it seems to be pretty much that sound.

~DB

**derek** · 08-17-2010, 01:19 PM

In addition to Nuages and Minor Swing, may I suggest the following:

Swing 42
Dinette
I Can't Give You Anything But Love
Tiger Rag
Djangology
Dinah
Them There Eyes

**Gambrosius1984** · 08-17-2010, 01:34 PM

Good to here your jamming the gypsy way Mr. B! It is such a wonderful style to play in. I jam with a group at a place called the Gypsy Den, pretty good name for this type of music, a few times a month.

There are just so many great tunes to jam in this style. Definately all those listed, plus perennials like "I'll See You in My Dreams" "Honeysuckle Rose" "Dark Eyes (Les Yeux Noir)" "I've Found a New Baby" and the list can go on.

These websites have chord charts (called "Grilles" in French) for most of the standard gypsy repetoire:
Jouer avec "Nuages de Swing" (has play along too)
Guitare Jazz Manouche - Liste des Grilles Jazz Manouche

P.S. The charts are written in a box format typical of gypsy jazz chord charts, so each box represents a typical bar, just fyi. Take care

**lindydanny** · 08-17-2010, 01:47 PM

Wow, I love that notation. Extremely simple, yet effective.

~DB

**frogeye** · 08-17-2010, 02:45 PM

I'm no expert on Gypsy Jazz by any stretch of the imagination but I happen to listen to this music quite frequently and i also have played some of these tunes when jamming with friends. Here are several tunes that I think are amongst the most common including some that were listed here already. These list is not complete but gives you some idea The top of the list are tunes that somewhat conceived by Gypsies in Europe and while they may use plenty of American Music elements some of them also contain significant Eastern European and French folk music elements. At the end of the list you find some tunes from the american songbook that are very popular in Gypsy Jazz because they sound great when played "La Pompe" Style. Enjoy, this is great music to get into from my point of view.

Dark Eyes / Les Yeux Noirs (Gypsy Anthem, it's the one and only most important tune to know in Gypsy music)
Minor Swing (3 chords and consequently I consider it to be one of the best tunes to practice and develop a good Gypsy rhythm feel AKA "La Pompe")
Belleville
Daphné (from the great Grappelli/Reinhart days)
Djangology (love or hate it but one of Django's signature tunes)
Swing 42
Nuages (very famous, not played all that often these days from what I can tell)
La Mer
(Je Suis) Seul Ce Soir (Beautiful Tune for my 2 cents worth)
J'Attendrai
Artillerie Lourde
Cocquette
Blues Clair (Listening to this one makes me smile despite it's title)
Micro (Gypsy meets BeBop)

All of Me
After you've gone
Lady be good
Sweet Georgia Brown
It Had to Be You
Limehouse Blues

I would also like to encourage to listen to some of the waltzes that some of the Gypsy musicians play. There is no "must know" that comes to my mind but my 2 favorite Gypsy guitar player for playing Gypsy waltzes are Tchavolo Schmitt and Romane. Check out these two and you know what I mean....

**Gambrosius1984** · 08-17-2010, 03:16 PM

Frogeye's got a great point. Waltz's are are great to listen too and learn.

Great vid's, but you can't forget one of the gypsy waltz kings, Moreno

**mr. beaumont** · 08-17-2010, 05:20 PM

thanks fellas, keep 'emcoming. Got homework to do!

**frogeye** · 08-17-2010, 05:59 PM

There are several play along vids on YouTube that may come in handy for homework purposes. Also check out Stephane Wrembel's homepage as he offers free practice backing tracks to download in MP3 format from what I remember. Enjoy.

**mr. beaumont** · 08-17-2010, 06:52 PM

very cool.

how do you guys feel about the "prescriptive" nature of some GJ enthuiasts? I've been paging around djangobooks.com, and for every awesome resource there's a conversation about the "correct" way to pick, or play "la pompe" or whatever...seems very "anti-jazz" to me--the idea that there's one right way to do things...

despite that, I like the music enough and my recent acquisition of a john jorgensen model gitane that beongs to a friend of mine--(he's borrowing one of my teles for an unknown amount of time to play in a rockabilly band, I get his gitane) that I can look past this...but...

how accepting will people be to me doing some bop licks? what if I alternate pick? what if I use my fingers occasionally? play quietly?

the cat I'm playing with is really cool about not being into the "one right way" business...I guess my question is, how many folks out there are like that? Is the "jazz SS" at djangobooks an anomaly or a norm? Should I care (I know the answer to that last one is NO)

but thanks for the help...great stuff so far. Time to get back to adjusting to this 26"+ scale instrument...not the easiest to play, but the sound!!! the sound!!!

**Gambrosius1984** · 08-17-2010, 07:16 PM

I here you on that Mr. B. Many in the GJ community on this side of the Atlantic is very snooty in saying things need to be played a certain way to be GJ. It's a bunch of crock. Most of the Americans I hear play the music play "prescribed" licks that sound drab and lifeless. And to say there is only one way to play la pompe is bs. I have heard many versions of la pompe that are all great.

Many true gypsy jazz giants incorparate all elements and styles of jazz(and other music) into their music. I have jammed in Samois with many great guitarist that were delighted at some of the licks I played that were not the same gypsy arpeggios up and down the neck. Just listen to Bireli!

I just think that trying to say there is a right and wrong way to play any music is limiting yourself, which not something you want to do if you want to be a great musician. There are some Americans that are hip to this in the GJ community, but most others are happy to be robots I guess.

**Jazzaluk** · 08-17-2010, 10:46 PM

Why would you bother to play GJ tunes with GJ players and not try to make it sound authentic.

If you want to try and re-interpret the GJ repertoire in BeBop or some other style then I say go for it, But if you go to a GJ jam, then I think i is respectful to try and learn the techniques and tradition of the style. No different than any other jam session, blues, jazz,,,whatever. In the end, your GJ sound will still be colored by your own experience and background.

**hydra** · 08-17-2010, 10:48 PM

no one minds. i play fingerstyle on a 9 string guitar and have played many times with joscho stephan and band, also tommy emmanuel (playing gypsy, jim nichols etc
and am not a "gypsy player in notes either.

**Gambrosius1984** · 08-17-2010, 11:56 PM

I hear you jazzaluk. I have been playin the style many years and know thoroughly. Me and mr.b were talkin about certain people in the gj community that try to be an authority and tell people things should be one way and one way only. Me and him had this discussion before though, definately learn the style in and out'

**Alzo** · 08-18-2010, 05:41 AM

Bernie's Tune and But Beautiful are great for a gypsy feel!

**Jazzaluk** · 08-18-2010, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Gambrosius1984

I hear you jazzaluk. I have been playin the style many years and know thoroughly. Me and mr.b were talkin about certain people in the gj community that try to be an authority and tell people things should be one way and one way only. Me and him had this discussion before though, definately learn the style in and out'

Understood Gambrosius. Those people exist in every genre. I certainily don't mean sound accusatory. After all, it is just music... not brain surgery. I suppose I just get annoyed with the idea that any style in jazz can be diluted or altered under the cloak of creativity, which is often used to avoid the hard work of learning the style.

BTW, I am just a fledgling begginner in the style myself. No expert but but I love the music and attend some jams when the opportunity arises. I prepared for jams with the Robin Nolan material. Its good basic stuff and allows players of all levels to start Le (La?) Pompe. Not cheap in North America but I had a lot of fun with the ones I bought.

The Robin Nolan Gypsy Jazz Guitar Library

Also... this Youtube site is good to pick up some beginner tricks.

YouTube - Kanaal van thrip

**mr. beaumont** · 08-18-2010, 10:15 AM

Yeah, Jazzaluk, I'm certainly not talking about showing up with a strat and playing thru a distorted marshall amp, or tapping! (though I've heard Django use some pretty wicked distorted tones)But I come from a bop background, I've learned a lot from cats like Charlie Christian and Grant Green, and those single note styles sound really great to my ears on this guitar.

So I might be tempted to throw in the occasional "Jim Hall" chord, or play some bluesy doublestops, or pick lightly up near the fretboard--but I don't think I'll be messing with anybody's tradition. Tradition is important, but so is having your own voice...when I see cats arguing ridiculous stuff like "That's the way they played rhythm pre-war, nobody does that anymore" or "You alternate picked that line, Stochelo would have gypsy picked it" I feel likescreaming at the top of my lungs "IT'S JAZZ, PEOPLE!"

**Jazzaluk** · 08-18-2010, 11:16 AM

I don't mean to polarize the discussion, but the Gypsy Jazz phrasing and sound is very often dependent on the picking technique. I for one am happy to learn the techniques and nuances that players use to create that unique flavor, especially if I have a Selmer type instrument in my hands.

I have found that my particular picking techniqe prevents me from reproducing some of the GJ phrasing. It doesn't prevent me from trying to play the repertoire using "my own voice" but I think it is worth the effort to try a make it sound more authentic. I do the same for Bebop and swing.

In the end, the style is in the phrasing... the creative voice is in the lines and composition.

**mr. beaumont** · 08-18-2010, 12:06 PM

I don't think you'll polarize the discussion, you have very valid points.

There is a particular way to get a sound out of a selmer-tpe instrument, and it's different than the way you get sound from say, an L5 plugged into a fender amp. It's as much as necessity of creating volume to be heard as it is being "authentic," too.

**JohnRoss** · 08-18-2010, 12:25 PM

I don't think you'll find the expression "gypsy jazz" used very much outside North America, is there not a better term for this subgenre? It certainly makes me uncomfortable, it carries a nasty smack of racism to my ears (I'm not saying anyone here is being racist, I'm saying it can have that resonance). Plus, it ignores the musical contributions of non-francophone gypsy communities. I haven't got an alternative, though - jazz manouche would probably be even worse, the way the French are treating gypsies these days.

**mr. beaumont** · 08-18-2010, 12:44 PM

I hear ya, John,

I know when I grew up, "gypsy" was a blanket term my grandparents used for anybody working in the "quiet economy," the guy who'll blacktop your driveway as long as you paid cash, the cat who'd fix your car but there'd never be anything in writing...some of these folks may have actually been the descendants of european travelling communities, but others certainly weren't...

I was uncomfortable with the term as well until I saw actual musicians of this descent using the term...they've kind of taken ownership of it, I guess. I wish there was a better term, or at least something that didn't seem "bad."

My grandpa's middle name is "Rhineheart," btw, but we're just your run-of-the-mill "came to america in the early 1900's to build canals" Germans.

Baltar Hornbeek · 08-18-2010, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

very cool.

how do you guys feel about the "prescriptive" nature of some GJ enthuiasts?

I enjoy the tension between the traditionalists and modernists. It seems a very common debate amongst all music stylists, not just the gypsies. Irish stuff, American folk, jazz(all eras), Nigerian Kuti, even the throat singers argue about it.

**Jazzaluk** · 08-18-2010, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Baltar Hornbeek

I enjoy the tension between the traditionalists and modernists. It seems a very common debate amongst all music stylists, not just the gypsies. Irish stuff, American folk, jazz(all eras), Nigerian Kuti, even the throat singers argue about it.

It is an interesting debate. I suppose I am a traditionalist in the sense that I believe a "living" musical style is simulataneously undergoing three processes: Evolution, Involution, and Disintegration.

Evolution is when a style evolves from its roots in response to the environment, which is mostly driven by the listen. New tunes, new instruments, new variations on rythm and harmony.
Involution is when the style is refined by the musicians and composers through improved skill, technique, vocabulary and performance etc.
Disintegrationis when the style is imitated without true connection to the source. It is an interesting and creative process that can actually create new styles. Usually begins when the style losses its mainstream audiance.

I think modernists enjoy taking things apart and putting them back together again.

Personally, I enjoy watching things evolve and refine. Unfortunately, the evolutionary process halts when the audiance disappears.

Sorry... just another off topic thought.

**Jazzaluk** · 08-18-2010, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I don't think you'll polarize the discussion, you have very valid points.

There is a particular way to get a sound out of a selmer-tpe instrument, and it's different than the way you get sound from say, an L5 plugged into a fender amp. It's as much as necessity of creating volume to be heard as it is being "authentic," too.

Yes.. I agree that volume was a big factor in the Gypsy (and all other contributors) Jazz Style. I am cetain that the attempt to be heard was the principle driver of the technique and phrasing.

**frogeye** · 08-18-2010, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

how do you guys feel about the "prescriptive" nature of some GJ enthuiasts? ...seems very "anti-jazz" to me--the idea that there's one right way to do things...

My apologies for this rather long post but I felt the need to share my thoughts on this controversial topic. I wish that I could speak from the great experience that hydra had, but my playing level hasn't really qualified me to play with these cats (yet..

.).

I wouldn't be too concerned with people being miffed when you play bop lines over a Gypsy tune. As a matter of fact you will find later recordings by Grappelli/Reinhart where both guys play lines that refer to Charlie Parker and Stephane Grappelli supposedly also mentioned that in an interview given in the late 80's. As others already stated in general most GJ are very open about the notes that you play and how you play them as long as you in support of the overall spirit of the tune. I would be careful though with including Gypsy Jazz in "It's just Jazz". There is that strong European folk music influence in the style (2/4 feel versus 4/4 feel) that IMHO really doesn't fit all that well under Jazz and also this music is apparently an integral part of Sinti and Roma culture.

Now, when it comes to my own development I have found value in practicing the traditional Gypsy right hand picking style for (in my case: attempting to) playing Gypsy solo lines. The lines will sound more traditional as a result and I see it as a great way to enhance my own capabilities as some of that technique also can be used when playing bop or or latin tunes. Same applies to rhythm playing. There are some great GJ rhythm players out there who are not using the traditional right hand technique and I even know of one who doesn't even use a pick.To me traditional Gypsy techniques are supplemental to everything that you already bring to bear with your current skills, they are by no means a pre-requisite for playing this style of music whatsoever.

I recommend that you check out this vid here.

I purposely picked it because it shows Stochelo Rosenberg some 20 years ago not playing a Gypsy tune but playing a famous Latin tune that all of us here should be very familiar with. His right hand picking technique is shown nicely several times throughout the video in particular starting around 1:05 into the video for a whopping 20 seconds. These 20 seconds taught me more about GJ picking technique than most books will likely be able to do.

Give it a try and sit down with that 26.5 inch scale guitar

and play some lines that you know well and in a playful way start applying some of the right hand approach shown by Stochelo. Keep it slow ( I know you will) and give yourself a little time to get accustomed and let your heart decide if you want to further invest any time into it. I wouldn't be surprised if over time you will incorporate some of this into your personal skill repertoire.