Fapy Lafertin & Lejazz - Swing guitars & Hungaria remastered

rimm

Awesome stuff altogether 8)

dBlackie

rimm wrote:

Awesome stuff altogether 8)

Here we are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Y1kBGx ... plpp_video
so young!!

dBlackie

Archtop Eddy wrote:

Hi Dave. Thanks for doing this! Swing Guitars and Hungaria are great classic Fapy CDs well deserving of new life through re-release. Me thinketh lots of folks here will be interested in finally being able to get these hard-to-find recordings... and remastered to boot! AE

Hey Eddie
Here we are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Y1kBGx ... plpp_video
so young!!

Archtop Eddy

I downloaded these last night from Amazon and I have to say I'm very pleased and excited by this re-release. (I plan to get the actual CDs since I expect the quality will be even better than the downloads, however, I am an impatient man and I wanted them NOW!)

The remastering is great! I compared it to the original recordings and the new versions are louder, clearer, and better eq'd. It's such a pleasure and surprise to hear the tracks--with which I am so familiar and devoted to--come alive in a new way, adding depth, dimension and clarity. This experience alone makes the purchase well-worthwhile.

Additionally, there are at least eight previously unreleased tracks. Some are alternate versions not initially released. This gives us a chance to do some comparative listening to learn how Fapy approached the melodies and solos.

You can get a taste of this from the YouTube vids Dave recently posted of the recording sessions. There are two versions of What A Difference A Day Makes, allowing you to make comparisons.

In my mind, the videos are as exciting as the newly mastered CDs. They allow me to see exactly how Fapy fingers the phrases he plays -- many of which are burned into my memory. For me, one of the most challenging aspects about understanding Fapy's approach has been determining where on the fretboard he plays and which phrase patterns he uses. Many of Fapy's phrases can be played in different patterns on different parts of the neck and often it is hard to tell which one he is using. Knowing where on the neck to play and how to execute a phrase is all part of Fapy's incredible story-telling flow. By seeing him execute these classic renditions on video, it brings a whole new understanding and excitement to understanding and appreciating Fapy's method.

(Opinion coming here...) It seems to me that as we've become more "educated" in Gypsy Jazz guitar methodology, there's been a trend to play arpeggios in mostly elongated horizontal patterns by laying the "learned" arpeggio patterns (or licks) on each new chord that appears in the song. Watching Fapy, it appears to me he makes full use of all four fingers and plays as concisely as possible in selected regions of the fretboard/neck. I think this helps to maximize the best tone regions of the guitar and neck, provides both mental and physical relaxation, maximizes melodic interpretation, and opens arpeggios to new patterns generally not used or noticed in the more contemporary horizontal approach.

Of course these are just my views but I think this falls in line with an interesting observation made by Stubla recently in his thread about Twelfth Year. To quote, ...if you study Django you realize his primary goal in Music was creating new melodies---it wasn't about learning '500 gypsy jazz licks' and changing the order of them on each solo; and it wasn't about running 100's of different arpeggios through a chord sequence. It was about using the song melody and the chord sequence to create new melodies of your own and hopefully tell a cohesive story."

This is still my favorite GJ quote of 2012! And watching these videos and listening to Fapy play, you sense how this approach also fits Fapy's classic style.

So back to the CDs: If you are not familiar with the these long-unavailable tracks, by all means take advantage of this opportunity to obtain them. If you already own them, I believe there are good reasons to reacquaint yourself through this new re-release. As noted above, with the CDs and the release of YouTube studio videos that accompany them, this is a great time to renew study and appreciation of Fapy Lafertin and--I can't help it, I gotta say it... --discover again, What Would Fapy Do?

Thanks Dave for releasing these! AE

Teddy Dupont

Archtop Eddy wrote:

Of course these are just my views but I think this falls in line with an interesting observation made by Stubla recently in his thread about Twelfth Year. To quote, ...if you study Django you realize his primary goal in Music was creating new melodies---it wasn't about learning '500 gypsy jazz licks' and changing the order of them on each solo; and it wasn't about running 100's of different arpeggios through a chord sequence. It was about using the song melody and the chord sequence to create new melodies of your own and hopefully tell a cohesive story."

That is so true. The "lick learning" process has made much of the music rather formulaic.

I too found Fapy's use of all his fingers, including the little one, very interesting. - A great tone from his guitar on these recordings.

klaatu

Archtop Eddy wrote:

Of course these are just my views but I think this falls in line with an interesting observation made by Stubla recently in his thread about Twelfth Year. To quote, ...if you study Django you realize his primary goal in Music was creating new melodies---it wasn't about learning '500 gypsy jazz licks' and changing the order of them on each solo; and it wasn't about running 100's of different arpeggios through a chord sequence. It was about using the song melody and the chord sequence to create new melodies of your own and hopefully tell a cohesive story."

Eddy, Stephane Wrembel said practically the same thing at Django in June 2007. He said that improv was all a matter of making up new melodies based on the original one. He even suggested singing your new melodies first and then trying to reproduce them on the guitar.

Phil

AE - ...and who was it who went off to eat Jerk Chicken whilst Fapy played...one long hot Summer's day... back in July 2003 at L'Espirit Manoche!?!? :roll: :roll: :roll: ...

...PS I agree with all that you and Stubla said, never a truer word been spoken!
Cheers
Phil 8)

Ahab

Great quote form Stu, but Fapy had a great quote too, "Django was a composer who improvised on the guitar". Or to put it another way, he used the guitar as his tool for improvising. Many of the contempory Gypsy guitarists are monster players technically, but how many could you say were genuine improvisers?

dBlackie

Archtop Eddy wrote:

I downloaded these last night from Amazon and I have to say I'm very pleased and excited by this re-release. (I plan to get the actual CDs since I expect the quality will be even better than the downloads, however, I am an impatient man and I wanted them NOW!)

The remastering is great! I compared it to the original recordings and the new versions are louder, clearer, and better eq'd. It's such a pleasure and surprise to hear the tracks--with which I am so familiar and devoted to--come alive in a new way, adding depth, dimension and clarity. This experience alone makes the purchase well-worthwhile.

Additionally, there are at least eight previously unreleased tracks. Some are alternate versions not initially released. This gives us a chance to do some comparative listening to learn how Fapy approached the melodies and solos.

You can get a taste of this from the YouTube vids Dave recently posted of the recording sessions. There are two versions of What A Difference A Day Makes, allowing you to make comparisons.

In my mind, the videos are as exciting as the newly mastered CDs. They allow me to see exactly how Fapy fingers the phrases he plays -- many of which are burned into my memory. For me, one of the most challenging aspects about understanding Fapy's approach has been determining where on the fretboard he plays and which phrase patterns he uses. Many of Fapy's phrases can be played in different patterns on different parts of the neck and often it is hard to tell which one he is using. Knowing where on the neck to play and how to execute a phrase is all part of Fapy's incredible story-telling flow. By seeing him execute these classic renditions on video, it brings a whole new understanding and excitement to understanding and appreciating Fapy's method.

(Opinion coming here...) It seems to me that as we've become more "educated" in Gypsy Jazz guitar methodology, there's been a trend to play arpeggios in mostly elongated horizontal patterns by laying the "learned" arpeggio patterns (or licks) on each new chord that appears in the song. Watching Fapy, it appears to me he makes full use of all four fingers and plays as concisely as possible in selected regions of the fretboard/neck. I think this helps to maximize the best tone regions of the guitar and neck, provides both mental and physical relaxation, maximizes melodic interpretation, and opens arpeggios to new patterns generally not used or noticed in the more contemporary horizontal approach.

Of course these are just my views but I think this falls in line with an interesting observation made by Stubla recently in his thread about Twelfth Year. To quote, ...if you study Django you realize his primary goal in Music was creating new melodies---it wasn't about learning '500 gypsy jazz licks' and changing the order of them on each solo; and it wasn't about running 100's of different arpeggios through a chord sequence. It was about using the song melody and the chord sequence to create new melodies of your own and hopefully tell a cohesive story."

This is still my favorite GJ quote of 2012! And watching these videos and listening to Fapy play, you sense how this approach also fits Fapy's classic style.

So back to the CDs: If you are not familiar with the these long-unavailable tracks, by all means take advantage of this opportunity to obtain them. If you already own them, I believe there are good reasons to reacquaint yourself through this new re-release. As noted above, with the CDs and the release of YouTube studio videos that accompany them, this is a great time to renew study and appreciation of Fapy Lafertin and--I can't help it, I gotta say it... --discover again, What Would Fapy Do?

Thanks Dave for releasing these! AE

AE. Thanks for your enthusiasm and your opinions, and generous support for the re-release.
Am also happy with the remastering of almost all of it!

Fapy has got everything happening on all levels and always has had.... which ever way you look at.
Here's the first of a dozen or so attempts at 'Hungaria'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_dKAzH6 ... plpp_video

Greetings from Fapy who as i type is driving me through the West of Wales.
D

klaatu

Holy hedgehogs, Batman! My copy just arrived from the UK. I'm listening to it now as it's being imported into iTunes on my new iMac (FINALLY got fed up with Windows for the last time). Simply amazing! Thanks, Dave, for making this happen.

My daughter ordered me a really cool vintage-looking tie from a place in the US for my January birthday. It just arrived, postmarked Jan 7. My CD arrived from the UK in a week. Go figure.