Gypsy Jazz singers

crookedpinky

We were lucky to have a French singer for a year in Glasgow - she was in the Piaf style and fitted that style of song really well. Amazing voice - just had to transpose on a few things but that's ok. The tricky part for anyone is the Franch in songs like Padam Padam etc. However having said that we've also had straight Jazz singers - like Alison Affleck - and we simply adjust the repetoire. I've also heard some gypsy singers singing "gypsy" songs and they are different again. I think my point is that there are a variety of "styles" which fit within "gypsy jazz".

spud

Thé album that Sara lazarus rus did with birelli is Fab! One of my favorites of bireli because he has only one chorus to nail it in each song.

Russell Letson

So much of the Hot Club repertory is rooted in song that I often wonder at the relative rarity of singers in HC performance--I remember my surprise and pleasure on first hearing Hot Club Sandwich at DFNW.

"Gypsy jazz" (or whatever label we paste on it) can be seen as an area of overlap or confluence of at least three traditions: American swing and jazz (itself an area of confluence), French popular/dance/cabaret music (more confluence), and Roma adaptations of/responses to those. (Geez, is it all rivers running together?) All of those traditions accommodated (or even required) vocalists, and that means that a singer or a band has plenty of room to maneuver and plenty of models to follow. Connie Evingson, for example, fits right in the Beryl Davis lineage, doing standard-rep cabaret material with a Hot Club band.

For a band coming from a klezmer/Eastern-Europe direction, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" might be an interesting entry into swing, even though it's not particularly associated with HC playing. (Or "And the Angels Sing"--Ziggy Elman's ending chorus ought to inspire a guitarist or two.)

adrian

Don't miss Eva Sur Seine for some killer vocals in modern gypsy-jazz. http://www.evasurseine.com/

woodamand

Nice! I like the swing of Sur Seine (under the Seine? Can that be her real name?) quite a lot. To me, I always will go for jazz with a good singer, add so much to the music. Thanks much

steven_eire

Check out Norig who sings with the guitarist Sebastien Giniaux. She does a lot of Gypsy songs. Cyrille Aimee is another fantastic singer who sings all sorts of Jazz and often with GJ musicians

bohemewarbler

Eva Sholten performs as Eva sur Siene with the Thomas Baggerman Trio. Their music doesn't stray from the Gypsy Jazz sound. I am a big fan of the Thomas Baggerman Trio and Eva. Also, check out the Sara French Quintette. Both of these groups were at Samois sur Siene this summer. Here is one of my favorite Gypsy Jazz MTV-style videos of the quintette performing Tu vuo fa' l'americano.

sadow

Check out Sara Oschlag:

Matteo

Wow!

woodamand

More good videos! Really impressed with Thomas Baggerman and Eva and I wou.d have never imagined an MTV style video like the Sarah French vid. Was she singing in Italian? All these groups give me good ideas of what to do with my band, but of course all of them would benefit - in my opinion - with a woodwind player. Off course, that is me, the reed addict, saying that. Seriously though, I think it really helps the sound of a band to have more than two guitars and a bass - will this statement get me thrown off this forum??????? - I just like the bigger palette of tones, you know, some sounds that aren't string based.