Anthony Parker Manifesting Manouche

The most awesome book on, if you could write a book on swing. Come on people, I have a first printing, and the author sent notes and small corrections ( so a few notes on the tiniest of corrections)

Submitted by: Me on 11/18/2020 05:31:19 AM

Manifesting Manouche is the ultimate tool for guitar players who wants to take their playing to a whole new level. I've been playing guitar for many years, mainly rock/metal so I'm quite new to gypsy jazz. Now I wish I've had this book sooner because it has opened up a new way of progressing guitar playing if you are willing to work hard. The funny thing that the work is not hard, just fun! Anthony has done a great job with putting together Manifesting Manouche and I can't thank him enough for making me a better guitar player both musically and theoretically! I highly recommend Manifesting Manouche if you're in to gypsy jazz but it works just as well for any kind of music if you want to break out of the box and be a better improvising musician.

Submitted by: Muzicman on 04/10/2016 12:58:16 AM

Although I have learned a lot of things that are in this book, I must say I wish I would have had this at the beginning of my journey along with Michael's books. Very well thought out with a ton of practical things you can immediately apply to your playing. Also great is that he included almost 40 tunes (Grilles), that are often played on a gypsy jazz gig. The arpeggios and arpeggio Etudes are priceless along with the other phrasing ideas Anthony takes you through?.well done Anthony!!

Submitted by: Jim on 10/01/2015 10:55:45 AM

I am thoroughly enjoying Anthony's "Manifesting Manouche" instruction book and accompanying videos on YouTube. Anthony is a great teacher, and he's managed to find a workable approach to getting a difficult concept across to students. As he says himself in the introduction, he has a stack of books that he has looked to over the years trying to understand how to play this music. His instruction book is a distillation of his own best ideas and approaches that have worked for him and his students. Now, they're working for me, and I think any new player will find them helpful.

Submitted by: Chiefbigeasy on 09/10/2015 06:16:07 PM

Pros: This book is useful to both students (at ANY level) and teachers

I have attended the previous 4 consecutive Django in June weeks. And like many of us “hobby-guitarist” that attend I devote all the time I can toward practicing (mostly using books, DVDs, YouTube, and some professional instruction). My personal goal isn’t to procure a world tour with the Rosenberg’s (although they keep asking) but to simply further my understanding, enjoyment and ability to play Gypsy Jazz. I’ve worked pretty hard at it but after a couple of years I’ve seemed to reach a plateau and felt like I just couldn’t move forward. But what I found during my yearly pilgrimage to Michael Horowitz’s ‘table of able’ this year has reinvigorated me and is proving to be the holy grail for breaking though to the next level of playing. A long-long musician, guitarist and educator, Anthony Kenan Parker, just released his new book Manifesting Manouche, and it is truly sublime. The method he’s developed and that is presented in this book is unique and innovative. It will change your understanding, raise your playing ability and most importantly, elevate your enjoyment of Gypsy Jazz. This book is so different I was able to do something I never could with the countless other books accumulating on my shelves; I read though the entire book first before ever picking up my guitar. This was tantamount to looking at a map and seeing where you are and where you want to get to and seeing clearly the entire route you’ll need to travel to get there. Only a book that has an outstanding method allows for this, and this is it! I could point out many other positives that makes this book distinctly more useful and accessible than many I already own but his approach (along with his cohesive method) are key factors that re-sets the bar so well and so high. The other thing I’d like to add is that the author has also attended many years at Django in June (along with a plethora of other workshops, seminars and of course perforating with consummate players worldwide) and has taken some of the best material presented at DiJ over the years and incorporated it into his own work. So, if you have never been to a D-Jam or a Django in June this is the prep ‘workbook’ you’ll want. If you have attended DiJ in the past then this book’s also the review material for all those hours you’ve put in only to forget what you learned a month later. I also love the fact that although I knew a descent amount of the material he presents, seeing what you thought you knew from a whole new perspective really helps make it much more meaningful, fresh and useful. Repetition being the key to learning and mastering. This book is highly valuable in the hands of a total beginner, the novice (me), intermediate, skilled enthusiasts (those darn guys with chops)…and even for the greats that share and teach there’s some amazing new ideas, but mostly I can see this as becoming the go-to book for those that regularly teach GJ (it’s literally designed the student/teacher relationship). I’d write more but all I want to do is get back to studying it…and by ‘it’ I mean Manifesting Manouche by Anthony Kenan Parker. Get this book, you’ll love it! And great job, Sir!

Submitted by: Steve Arista on 08/16/2015 06:34:14 AM

Usually the books that I've bought are overly complicated and I usually give up about five pages in and feel really discouraged. Not so with Manifesting Manouche, I find myself diving right in and learning all sorts of useful information. This book has really been helping me to start connecting the dots on how to improvise. The simplistic writing style and page layout is extremely effective and reminiscent of Mr.Horowitz's books. The fact that it is spiral bound and also includes blank pages is definitely an added bonus. Trust me, if you want to learn the art of improvisation you couldn't pick up a better book.

Submitted by: Michael on 07/20/2015 08:10:30 PM