[Controversial] Why is there not any great US guitarists?

cbwim

There are great guitarists from the US. John Jorgensen is the first one that comes to mind. Besides Gypsy Jazz he is diverse in so many other genres.

Then there is Bucky Pizzarelli. And many more past and present. Past ones included Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Les Paul.

Your question reveals that perhaps you need to do a little bit of research and get out more!

Jazzaferri

I think the OP's remark was about GJ specifically and not other genres....and even in that was perhpas a bit of an overstatement for dramatic effect as there are a few US GJ experts.

The improvisational acoustic music of America is Newgrass, bluegrass or whatever one want to call it.

Archtop Eddy

Ahem... ladies and gentlemen -- a special "Private-Reserve" YouTube just for you! AE

Michael Bauer

Eddy, you are the greatest! My ribs hurt from laughing...

Passacaglia

OH MY GOD, EDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm really happy right now I didn't take a swig while watching.....! Best laugh I've had in quite awhile, thanks buddy...!

Tele295

Eddy wins

Bones

I think that is the grand finale!

Stringswinger

Wow! What a stupid topic. Bob Holo's first comment in this thread says it all. I have met and played with a few of Europe's greats (Ninine Garcia, Samson Schmidt, Elios Ferre to name a few) and they all consider themselves jazz guitarists, not "Gypsy Jazz guitarists". Period. End of story.

If you want to break jazz guitar into different "genres", the fact is that John Jorgenson, Frank Vignola and Denis Chang can hold their own in the company of Stochelo, Angelo and Birelli. Just as Andreas Oberg and Birelli can hold their own against Pat Martino, Jimmy Bruno and Howard Alden.

This aint a competition. There are many great guitarists from many Nations who play great jazz guitar. If you think copying Django's pre war style is the bomb, great! Go for it. I doubt Django would approve. Listen to his late recordings. He moved on. It is great to play old timey jazz, whether Django style, George Barnes style or what have you. Non-musician audiences dig it.

But telling me that my friend John Jorgenson is not in the same league as Europes best is just pissing on my leg and telling me its raining. That dog don't hunt. :roll:

Cheers to All,

Marc http://www.hotclubpacific.com

jimvence

In rebuttal to some commentary, I think this thread is a proper discussion for this international group. The key is to write your post with a sense of diplomacy and respect. Most would concur here that The European countries could earn Gold, Silver, and Bronze at a Gypsy Jazz Olympics.

Since players such as the Rosenberg’s perform on national TV variety shows, the exposure of the music causes more people to take interest. It is no different in music than sports; and I would bet confidently you’ll Google search and find a similar discussion on US/Canada vs. Europe for football (a.k.a. soccer).

If we were to build a map of GJ popularity/participation, I suppose the “hot spots” would center in France, then farm out to Belgium and Holland, then Germany , and parts of UK. I can’t speak to Spain (though Biel Ballester is a favorite of mine), and I don’t think it any more known or popular in Italy that here in the USA, based on my experience.

I believe in the US, the influence of Django Reinhart is stronger in Western Swing than what we know as jazz today – absolutely when it comes to the music defined by what jazz radio stations play. In addition, US bluegrass music further dilutes the Gypsy Jazz style, by siphoning off guitarists interested in barn-burning flatpicking.

A list of great American players should also consider Richard "Shepp" Sheppard of Ameranouche. He is not as well known, which underlies the point about “whose best” and the factor of name recognition.

My favorite audio CD recommendation to anyone unfamiliar with GJ is to buy Mystery Pacific by the legacy Pearl Django with Paul Mehling, a fantastic "made in USA". Paul Mehling’s musical compositions and original melodies are to my taste the best made in GJ anywhere.

PS: I will be at DIJ this summer, and I look forward to meeting my friends from my first camp in 2009, as well as making new acquaintances.

noodlenot

i refrained for taking part in this topic, but just wanted to say that i´m with jimvence here - this is not a stupid topic, as there are no stupid topics per se (like stupid questions), just stupid answers. and somehow it still amazes me that people take offense with stupidity - the world is full of stupid things, one would have to be offended all the time. the OP didn´t seem particularly contentious anyway. good food for thought and all that jazz. and one shouldn´t feel urged to give an answer, sometimes answers are pretty pointless themselves.

anyway, i grew next door to gypsies - they were not sinti but iberian kale, or calé as they call themselves, but they´re Rom nevertheless - i never met a particularly good musician amongst them. conservatives their elderly might be, but - as Dennis said - most of the kids are into the modern urban genres and dress like "gangsta rap" when they can afford it. prospective careers in music are absent. they don´t know who Django was and couldn´t care less. they don´t do the silly mustache thing. like all the kids, they just want to be soccer players - and, believe me, they´re good at it.
since someone asked, my hints would be: 1) vernacular immediacy - growing up with a vocabulary and becoming intimate with it before you mature; 2) prevalence of role models at an young age - how young were you when you first wanted to be like Bireli? because i was 30 something and (rather sanely i might add) soon abandoned the idea - but if you´re 12 and you´re the hard-headed type than your chances could be better; 3)absence of bad habits - most of us have to unlearn our former guitar habits when picking up GJ (which i´m sure is the case with most US kids, and most kids for that matter) and they do tend to re-emerge here and there at times - different story if you pick this up at a tender age.
OK, i´m bothering myself to death right now. quick version : start young and stay at it. that´s my best hypothesis. pointless it can be.