After over 20 years of teaching, I genuinely believe that the most important thing any student can understand before working with any teacher is that the responsibility for learning lies entirely with them. A teacher can inspire, point a direction, and help you be more efficient on your path, but they cannot do the learning for you. Nobody can.

In this video I go into what I really think teaching and learning are about, and why understanding this distinction might change the way you approach your own musical journey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQmenbK3s4M

My special treat in May was a visit to the wonderful Django In The Bay, in Rutland, UK.

Here are some photos. Just as last year, the six evening concerts were brilliant. I made sure I joined in with jam sessions.

Robert Ford chatting to Wauwau. The black Busato replica D hole is now Wauwau's, and he played it on stage.

Killy Nonis inspecting my guitar. It attracted quite a lot of interest!

Eliaz Prinz and his sextet - what an amazing group. Eliaz's Favino (number 69) was the most amazing sounding guitar I've ever heard - a growling beast!!! Particularly noticeable at the jam session after the gig.

Don Vink was superb. That's Natalia who organises the festival. The final concert was Tcha and Fapy. What can I say? I was in tears.

What really struck me again was the sound quality - utterly wonderful and totally immersive.

So how did you guys find out? When did you start playing? I'm eager to read the comments😁

Edit: It is so great to hear everyone's stories! Thank you for putting a word in, so glad I can hear such amazing stories from such amazing people.

I was on a short trip in September with my family to visit relatives and friends in Australia (my wife's an aussie) when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's just had surgery and is recovering. We'll make it home to Scotland in January. An unplanned four months is a very long time to be away from home. I have abandoned my work as an artist, and my gigs with my little band. A new jazz club has been set up in my home town of Fort William, and Im not there to support it and I'm gutted. I miss playing sessions, gigs and I miss my guitars. Someone over here very kindly gave me a classical guitar to keep me going. Without guitar I would have nothing. Sounds dramatic, but its true. It's just a cheapo guitar - a basic model made in Japan, with a laminated top... but it sounds amazing. I made a new bone saddle for it and put some excellent strings on it, and it's just beautiful. Better than any flat top steel string could ever be. It's got me playing with real emotion and beauty. I still miss my dupont and the others, but it's amazing how great a regular nylon string classical can be. It's also made me remember that just because a guitar has a laminated top, if the construction and the laminate is good, you can have a great guitar.

All aspects of my life are on hold, and I've had some dark moments recently.

Last night though I went to see the Joscho Stephan trio in Brisbane. Their rendition of Bossa Dorado was as good as it gets. I hope to get back on track soon. I was hoping for a jam session in Brisbane, but I can't find any.

Happy Christmas fellow musos

Jamie x x x

Auriez-vous une idée ? Merci!

Jazz in general is really underrated and I really don't see why, I understand that it was related with the Mafioso kinds and what not, but I don't think that should banish it to make it a underrated choice of music. I personally find it hard to comprehend why some people listen to the music being released today, I will admit that there are a few good songs I jam to too some times when they come on the radio, but most of it is very... I can't find a word to explain it but it's not very good.

I think gypsy jazz should be more mainstream than what's played on the radio these days. Somebody needs to remind the world that music isn't about boasting about how much money you churn out every month or crimes and such, rather it should return to just passion; that's something you don't see every day in this century.

What do you think?

This question popped into my mind whilst I was hanging out with my guitar friend.

I was hanging out with this friend, he is really into rock and all of that kind of music which is whatever, each to their own. But we were having our first jamming session, me and him sat down, told him to play in the key of C in any chord progression and I'll lead over it. He looked at me like I was speaking some otherworldly language, I seen him play before, riffs from soundtracks of games he likes and other bands he listens to and he was pretty good at it and I got the impression he could handle himself with a guitar.

I was a bit shocked that he had so little knowledge of actual playing, without tabs he didn't know much. I taught him a little bit of everything I could but he seemed very uninterested in actually learning something so I just gave up on it and we played a few guitar duos instead.

To him, skill presented as riffs and songs he learnt with precision which is fine but it really eats at me when people dont bother learning actual stuff because guitar is so much more than repeated riffs.

To answer my own question, I think that skill with the guitar is a mix of technique and book knowledge, theory. Much like some of you, I love improvisation, and for that you need to know ball, scales, arpeggios, all of that jazz.

Now, what is skill to you? What does it represent and how do you spot it? I'd love to hear everybody's thinking.

Thanks!

Anyhow! As I mentioned before, I am quite new to playing gypsy jazz and I'm rather leaning towards doing rhythm guitar although I definitely wouldn't mind doing lead guitar too, I find the improvisation side of gypsy jazz more enticing with each arpeggio and scale I learn . As of late I got the chance to actually play a proper gypsy jazz guitar, it was an oval whole Selmer, I don't remember the exact model but compared to what I've been playing for the last two years? An immense change! The tension, the way the bridge was set, the everything was better and it felt so much more natural to play.

I also want to make gypsy jazz more than a hobby, maybe a side gig someday, if that has any impact on the matter.

Thanks😁

Never dig into this or maybe it's allready in an earlier post.

I always used argentines ball end strings.

What is your opinion about the cons and pros of loop or ball end?

The guitars on DjangoBooks are 5 figures that I probably wont see this soon in my life and probably not in my thirties either, but that's understandable, vintage, the real stuff and all of that.

What makes these guitars so special? Seems pretty trivial, something I should already know, but so far I never asked myself that question, is it the strings? Is it the material? What is it that makes GJ guitars so special? (and so expensive!)

All comments are welcome.

(Also I wanted to thank everybody from my last post that shared their story, I think I read most of them, all of them amazing.)

I've been long wondering what model my guitar is, all I was told when the guitar was given to me was that it was made by a passionate woodworker who made a dozen of guitars to give of to a man to smuggle crack out of Columbia. (No idea how true this is, probably not very.)

I've looked at pictures on the internet to see if any other gypsy jazz guitars look similar ,but with very little success, could anybody help me?

(The little black dot is a pick up for anyone wondering.)

I may be rushing things, I've only been playing for a year but I'm so mesmerised by Django's work and I really wanna play Gypsy jazz myself.

So I am here to ask the Django Book community, where do I make my start? What arpeggios should I practice? What songs should I look to learn?

Any comments are welcomed and appreciated.

We're moving to Victoria BC this year, hoping to hook up with some players.

Is anything happening there? I saw a Django group on Valentine's Day at Hermann's jazz bar..

I've been playing Django and jazz guitar for 20 years now, know a lot of dudes in the UK scene - Brighton.

Would love to hear from anybody, thanks.

I dont know what this means exactly in the long run for Americans buying abroad -- not good, I gather.

On the right side of Mozes you can see the Favino guitar Stochelo played at the NSJF concert of 1992.

click through to no.8

Anyone else with this kind of problem?

To contribute to the knowledge of the manouche or Gypsy jazz guitar, we share the history of PALM guitars, crafted in Argentina by luthier Pedro Alfredo Lucas Malosetti (P.A.L.M).

Pedro Alfredo Lucas Malosetti was born in Open Door, Luján, Province of Buenos Aires, in 1923. He was the oldest of five siblings, with Walter, the renowned guitarist, as his younger brother.

Growing up in a rural family, Pedro learned guitar by listening to the radio, developing skills in folk and classical music. He passed his knowledge to his brother Walter.

His journey into luthiery began when he disassembled a "CASA AMERICA" guitar gifted by his father, Alfredo. This marked the beginning of a long path of learning.

His work began in 1950 and continued until 1993, when he built his last guitar, named "WM" in honor of his brother Walter Malosetti. Both his son Raúl and nephew Ricardo Pellican own a PALM "WM" model guitar.

Throughout his career, Pedro received various honors, including one in 1970 at the "Concert Guitar Exhibition" at Club Gath y Chavez, during the Latin American Biennial.

Pedro Alfredo Lucas Malosetti crafted classical, electric, and "French guitars," as he called the "Selmer-style D-hole" guitars (like Django Reinhardt's), as well as requintos and even basses.

Walter Malosetti and Ricardo Pellican used his "french guitars" (selmer style) on the famous "Swing 39" band, formed together with Carlos Acosta in clarinet and Hector Basso in bass.

Also "Los Blue Strings", formed by Ruben "Baby" Lopez Fürst : Guitar (owner of the first Selmer guitar that arrive to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1953)

Hector Lopez Fürst : violín

Bernardo Birenbaum (replacing the first guitarist Carlos Macri (See picture from Carlos in 2024 with his palm):Guitar

Enrique Gutierrez de León : bass

Pedro carefully selected woods, including alpine spruce, Canadian spruce, and others, to craft durable works that last to this day. He worked each piece entirely by hand, with a methodical and dedicated approach, paying special attention to details like knobs, on which, according to his son Raúl, he could spend an entire day refining.

His workshop closed in 1993 when he returned to his hometown, Open Door, Luján, where he lived until his passing in 1999.

Today, his legacy lives on in his unique musical instruments, each with its own characteristics and details. Comparing two guitars of the same type, one might notice differences in finish, wood, ornamentation, or style, making each instrument truly one-of-a-kind.

Pedro Alfredo Lucas Malosetti left an indelible mark on Argentine music with PALM guitars.

Among the Argentine manouche jazz guitarists who have played his guitars are Walter Malosetti, Ricardo Pellican, Walter Coronda, and others.

For more informations, there is an Instagram Account for PALM Guitars and a Facebook Group for PALM GUITARS.

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share information regarding Sergio Repiso, a Spanish (from Mallorca) luthier, that lived in Buenos Aires Argentina, from mid 50s to late 70s. Jorge Lagos (an Argentinean Jazz Guitar player), visited Eugene Vées (one of Django Reinhardt guitarist) and brought a selmer guitar to Sergio Repiso in Buenos Aires. Repiso started developing selmer style guitars.

Attached are a couple, and you can follow our Sergio Repiso facebook group if you are interested in the subject.

All the best

José

WITH DARIO NAPOLI, TIM KLIPHUIS AND MANU HAGHMANN!

You can now sign up for the jazz + gypsy jazz event of the year 👇

"UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN" - 10TH EDITION!

https://www.darionapolicamp.com/

🔥 4-day musical full immersion for guitars, violins and basses, where we strive to offer the best combination of individual attention and loads of group play, both spontaneous and organized, tutored by myself and superstar musicians Tim Kliphuis and Emmanuel Hagmann in the paradise that is Agriturismo Umbria Borgo Solario ‼️🎵🎶☀️🥂

Spots are limited so don't waste any time if you want to secure your spot😜

A presto!

@optimastrings 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQBGzsa8gMc&t=33s

Lovely Waltz written by Ken on Accordion

..................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpIjrott8A4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx1NteuXTO8

Statement by American Federation of Musicians here: https://www.afm.org/2023/02/afm-opposes-proposed-uscis-visa-increases/?utm_source=Cyberimpact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=visas-P2&fbclid=IwAR0Hn1LngzZtJIXuDw7fcrdb9UaFliMEc9j_ihrdnE7FASmVsvMSQHQDnFw

Details here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/04/2022-27066/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration?fbclid=IwAR31yXMqZMCguk_OJk2x2E7sQHHnxVoGe1pya3wLq7XoGdf9xjcl7dw6T6M#open-comments

The first link provides access to where you can send comments (until March 6) through the Federal Register Portal.

Via internet radio or web browser

 Seems to go 24/7, has no voice introductions or ads and for me has an excellent choice of tracks, mainly HCdF but lots of modern GJ also.

For both internet radio or browser the track name and artist are identified.

Based in Russia apparently.

Anyone know more about it?

Anyway, WASO did the first concert for a handful of enthusiasts and from there it started to grow gradually. Now, after 40 years, we have more than one hundred bands playing this style in The Netherlands. We have jam sessions in every major city all the time. The Netherlands has produced so many great ambassadors of this style, like Stochelo Rosenberg, Paulus Schäfer, Lollo Meier, Robin Nolan, Mozes Rosenberg, Jimmy Rosenberg, Tim Kliphuis, Christiaan van Hemert and many more. There are many gypsy jazz concerts every week, we have numerous teachers as well. The association has organised over a hundred concerts, with all the best artists in the world. The association also has a great colourful quarterly magazine (Quintette) and a popular podcast.

For the very first concert in 1983, the association obviously invited the WASO Quartet (there was not much choice anyway). Shortly after that, they also invited Stéphane Grappelli, who was still on the road back in 1983. And after 40 years the association invited WASO again, how special is that! Below are some video links of the concert yesterday.

Melodie Au Crépescule:

Tu Djajal:

The WASO Quartet ended the concert with a beautiful version of Nuages, the song that started it all 40 years ago.