Phenomenal

Bob Holo

Jon wrote: »

It must be listened to.

Mingus would agree.

Jazz musicians always face the challenge of the two-headed hydra: please the audience and fill their own soul. Both are necessary, and yet, two more divergent purposes could not possibly exist.

By the way, this stuff was completely unscripted. They sat down and did what you're looking at right now... for about an hour... in the small theatre. Patrus just happened to be there and set up a camera. They played until they stopped, then one of them would start an idea and the other would go with it. At the end of the hour, they walked next door to the large hall and did it as a concert. It was a complete tightrope walk and every musician in the house loved it.

Jazzaferri

One of the things that I have discovered is that the music that speaks the loudest to me can be listened to while I am working away on something, listened to while I am relaxed and just listening or intensely listened too/dissected whilst learning. and in each of these situations I get an increased enjoyment and deeper understanding from the player(s).

Buco

Jon wrote: »

I actually liked the tone of the guitar in that context - a little less elevator-y or easy to ignore than an archtop would have been -

Huh, this is an argument that not easy to ignore. I like it.

kungfumonk007

When I say "Jazz" I say it as most "Jazz" musicians and "Jazz" clubs and "Jazz" studies departments mean it - completely ignoring the fact that there was indeed music before Dizzy Gillespie and ignoring the fact that Django Reinhardt or any kind of swing except Duke or Basie ever existed. I unfortunately did my MM at the worst music school in the country University of Northern Colorado - during one of the lectures the head of the jazz studies department was telling the students how they don't know enough about early jazz, and to rectify the problem they would spend a lot of time studying early jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie. . . are you kidding me? Okay. . . I'm biting my tongue to not go off on a violent tangent against jazz studies programs and jazz musicians. . .

wim

Egad, is that really what "most" jazz studies in the US are like?! Very sad ...

spatzo

Ok! Joscho is fast it is well known also that he develops the learned patterns he plays to an astonishing extension when others will not be able or - interested - to do it.

I also think that our taste for music and musicians is often subconsciously dictated by the fact that we discover in that music we love something we are searching for or that is slowly coming to our understanding and playing. It can be something dealing with the sound or with the way the improvisation is organized, chord substitution, etc.

So it is nice to appreciate all kind of music! it means we are musically alive

For me on my opinion both Joscho/friends and Tcha/Robin videos are not very interesting. The way Autumn Leaves is played has nothing new or revolutionary (Joscho is better than the other) and the way Tcha and Robin are playing is not well prepared and lacks of precision in the execution (sound is nice but remember Django was always perfect sound -rhythm-improvisation to a very high and convincing level) - both tunes are very far for example from the way Taylor and Escoudé elliptically and artistically played in the Trio Gitan" years ago (David was in those years not able to follow the other two were accomplished musicians when David was a good guitarist)...

We are still far from a jazz or jazzy approach to what could be the evolution of this music; there is a lot of skills in the things done but nothing really new but of course maybe who cares if we like it...

Django's music is always "modern jazz" from the records he recorded in the thirties to the very end

Steveareno

I agree with Stringswinger. There's a few groups around LA that use SelMac style guitars in old jazz, ragtime combos, sometimes with a piano or a horn section, vocals, etc. and it seems to work. I occasionally sit in with a group doing old pre WW2 standards and apart from dealing with a piano virtuoso and difficult key choices, it's a good mix. I like hearing these guitars in a variety of settings and don't think they should be pigeon holed into strict GJ material and style only. Swing Deville have a few nice western swing posts on YouTube and Adrian H's diverse material and fingerpicking stuff works well IMHO. I also like Tchan Tchou's Mack the Knife and Henri Salvadore. Joshco and friends seemed to have filled the room with an appreciative audience, many of whom may have paid good money for the experience.. The tone of SelMac style guitars can be very compellng can fit in a variety of styles. I'm all for diversity.
Mi dos centavos.
Swang on,

Jazzaferri

Our first year of jazz history only made it to the swing era.

That said, many of the faculty are not really into the guys who really made jazz what it is today. There is definitely a post WW2 Bias.

Last semester in sax I was studying bird....this semester Sonny Stitt. My pleas for Bechet fell on deaf ears.

Music schools and the music biz pump out thousands of very competent new performers every year...yet the number of true artists seems to stay fairly small....what is it we are missing

wim

Reminds me of that funny quote ... can't remember where it was from .. something about jazz students studying coltrane and bird, but coming out of their course with their own sound: a mixture of coltrane and bird.

Jazzaferri

Bob I completely agree. I am currently in my few spare minutes studying the quartet of Django, Barney, Rex and I think Jimmy Taylor on bass. My current fave Django material. I wish those four could have made a few albums together...magic.

I will pass on all the kind words to my Nephew