Which Django Era?

Teddy Dupont

Which Django era do you prefer? I thought these were probably the best divisions in terms of his musical style.

pickitjohn

My preference at this Moment would be...

The late 30's
&
The late 40's
pick on
Pickitjohn

Stringswinger

I think that by the mid 1940's, Django's playing had improved significantly. He played more blue notes, had better phrasing and had absorbed more jazz vocabulary. To me, his earlier work sounds corny and stiff. His last work in the early 50's was a work in progress. He sounds like a swing era jazzman trying to make the switch to a bebopper. Had he lived, he probably would have been one of the best (if not THE best) modern jazz guitarists. As his last work was not fully developed, I voted for the middle period in the poll.

A more interesting poll question might be: Which guitarist do you like the best out Of Fapy, Bireli or Boulou? It is the same question posed in a different manner. Of those three, I would choose Bireli.

Cheers,

Marc
www.hotclubpacific.com

Matteo

Lately, I have been listening a lot to recordings from 1937 and from 1946–1947. It seems to me that some things he did in 1937, among them those together with Michel Warlop, points forward to his expressionistic period in the first half of the 1940's. Recordings from both of those periods have a charm all of their own that I can't resist. But I'm also getting severe kicks right now from the postwar years, with Django as a master swing jazz soloist. Marvellous stuff! Yes, very hard to choose, but this points me in the direction of the 1940–1946 alternative. It varies, though. Half a year ago I was totally absorbed by the Rome and radio sessions boxes.

Joli Gadjo

The early stuff is the sound people like and know the most... Not many have really gone adventurous with the late stuff like Flèche d'Or, Nuit de St- Germain...

Bones

It may sound trite or whatever but I like it all. I like the early classic stuff all the way thru to the later more modern bop-ish influence.

Jazzaferri

I love it all but my favela his late stuff

bopster

We HAVE to choose? Not fair!

Teddy Dupont

bopster wrote: »

We HAVE to choose? Not fair!

You are right and in all honesty, even though I set the poll, I must admit I could not choose. 8-| There is fabulous playing in all eras.

Interestingly, although the majority of the music that is played as gypsy jazz is mainly pre-war Django, the poll indicated a preference for the other eras.

I realised I should have added another option but when I tried to modify the poll to include it, I found it was only possible by completely deleting the previous poll and all the votes that had been cast. So it's back to square one. :mad:

Charles Meadows

Stringswinger, Interesting comparison with Fapy, Bireli and Boulou. Why did you chose those 3?

Stringswinger

@Charles, I think Fapy is a bit of a one trick pony. He plays Django's pre-war stuff as well as anyone ever could and is admired (rightfully so) for it. It is not my cup of tea, but I think in the world of Gypsy jazz, it may be the taste of the majority of the Djangophiles.

Bireli is a post war Django player through and through (and my personal favorite by far of the modern Gypsy jazzers). He plays blue notes, incorporates modern jazz vocabulary, uses an electric guitar as well as acoustic etc.

Boulou is a modernist through and through. Had Django lived longer, he would surely have gone down the road that Boulou travels. IMO, Boulou plays fantastic music that is beyond the comprehension of most Djangophiles.

I chose those three, because I think each represents the best of the three eras of the players playing today.

@Teddy. I would have broken the choices down to 4 periods. Pre 1940, 1940-1945, 1946-1950 and post 1950. Had there been a fourth choice, I would have used Angelo Debarre as my pick for the 1940-45 sound. Bireli would have been the 1946-1950 guy.