Welcome!

MichaelHorowitz

Welcome to the DjangoBooks forum! I'm going to try like hell to make this a great resource for the Gypsy jazz community. For those of you working through my books you'll find answers to your questions in the "books" section of the forum. In fact, the main impetus for this forum is for me to be able to more effectively answer the large volume of questions and feedback I get about my books. So fire away!

Additionally, I'm building an "all star" cast of moderators who will facilitate discussion about the history and technique of Gypsy jazz. These guys know there stuff so pick there brains as need be.

Looking forward to seeing how this develops!

-Michael

pallopenna

It's nice to have a forum on this side of the pond!

-Paul

djangology

Hey Michael. At first I was like saying to myself "oh no! not another forum" but then I quickly realized that this is exactly what we need!

Thanks for setting this up and rounding up the other cowboys to do the herding.

MichaelHorowitz

Thanks Jon....the idea was to try and bridge the gap between the more knowledgeable and experienced players and the beginners. So often the more experienced guys lose interest and stop posting so I'm hoping to avoid that here. This way there will better quality posts.

-Michael

djangology

that reminds me. i keep forgetting that what the gypsy jazz community needs is a detailed FAQ that will answer all redundant questions. perhaps you could make a category in here called FAQ where you do not allow posts but where the moderator can post frequently asked stuff?

bwilkins

Say....nice job Michael! I've been away for a while, so it's nice to get a little boost to get back into this music. (Just been thru a l-o-n-g, dry, discouraged spell, being so far removed from anybody else who knows or cares about Gypsy Jazz)

BW

MichaelHorowitz

bwilkins wrote:

(Just been thru a l-o-n-g, dry, discouraged spell, being so far removed from anybody else who knows or cares about Gypsy Jazz)

Unfortunatly that's true for most folks...there ain't too many of us so we need to stick together.

'm

campfire

Michael,

Just wanted to say hello, and nice work! It's nice to have a U.S. based gypsy jazz forum. Kinda makes me feel at home...mind if I take off my shoes?

BTW, my friend & fellow guitarist Nick, really likes the new Schertler "David" amp he bought from you. I like it too, I played through it last Wednesday at our regular gig, and it sounded great with my Park. I am encouraging him to get the DYN-G pickup, too. Then I get to try it for free! :twisted:

Take care, and good luck with the new forum. Thanks, again!

Larry

Ned Boynton

Thank you Michael for inviting me to join this forum.

I am a founding member of the Hot Club of San Francisco and work as a musician here in North Beach. My regular gig is at Enrico's where I have been for the last 13 years. I have a new CD out entitled "The North Beach Sound" and I recently aquired all of the Django sides on the Integral label. Although I am not exclusively a "Django" style player, I prefer playing acoustic guitars and love getting together and playing tunes. To me the essence of Django is the culture of hanging out and playing music for hours on end.

I look forward to learning and contributing in this forum.

Jack

Michael Horowitz wrote:

...the main impetus for this forum is for me to be able to more effectively answer the large volume of questions and feedback I get about my books. So fire away!

Michael,

This has already proved to be a great idea, both for you (I imagine) and us; less four or five forum postings to get what we're after, and less individual mailings for you. I wonder, though, if you didn't add a Tunes section for the reason quoted above. Over time, I'm guessing people will write in with questions about those not covered in your books, and it might be convenient to corral 'em all in one place. Just a thought.

More importantly-do I ask this too often?-what's the word on Gypsy Rhythm Volume One? I know you're a new dad, but we're all you're children now! I kid, really; I hope it's been a joy.

Best,
Jack.

MichaelHorowitz

Jack wrote:

I wonder, though, if you didn't add a Tunes section for the reason quoted above. Over time, I'm guessing people will write in with questions about those not covered in your books, and it might be convenient to corral 'em all in one place. Just a thought.

Yeah, maybe I should add one. I was thinking this forum would have a different focus then the other forums which get a lot of "where can I get a chart for xxxx?" requests. But if we're going to get that anyway I guess I should have a spot for it.

Jack wrote:

More importantly-do I ask this too often?-what's the word on Gypsy Rhythm Volume One?

As you know Gypsy Rhythm was supposed to be one book but got so absolutely huge with all the transcriptions and text that it's now three. But now even the first book is looking to be 200 pages. I couldn't work much on it the last three months but I've got a lot more time now so it should be done soon. I'm working on it full time and it's about 90% done so it shouldn't be too much longer. Gypsy Rhythm Vol 2 and 3 will follow quickly after since they're basically already written as well. So I'm hoping to have a new release every two months or so for a while. Well' see! Sorry this is taking so long!

Jack wrote:

I know you're a new dad, but we're all you're children now! I kid, really; I hope it's been a joy.

Yeah, it's great! He loves for me to play guitar for him. When I watch him I just play all the unaccompanied Django pieces for him...fun! He really gets stoked when I play the chromatic runs....ha ha

'm