Gypsy Jazz Vibraphone

EliPorter

Hello DjangoBooks! I'm a vibraphone player who recently got into gypsy jazz! I know vibes aren't woodwind but I figured it was the closest section since if I were to play in a gypsy band I would be playing basically the same role as a woodwind player. But how does one start with gypsy jazz other than guitar or bass? I can't find any tutorials! What does one do differently in a I guess "standard" swing situation than a gypsy situation. I was able to fiddle around with the pedal on my vibes and get kind of a la pompe sound but there is no way to get the percussive aspect of it so I'm guessing comping on vibes in a gypsy situation is out of the picture (I do play with 4 mallets so I comp a lot when I play jazz). I found the gypsy vibes album by the Joscho Stephan trio ft. Matthias Strucken on vibes. Any help is appreciated.

ChrisMartin

Well that is an interesting idea.
I really don't have any advice except to suggest you find some local players and talk to them. Then if you can set up a jam situation and they have the patience, see where you can fit in.
My guess is that as the vibraphone does not have the 'attack' to replicate most of the guitar parts, nor really the glissando of the violin, you may get some ideas from listening to some of the legends of the musette accordion?
Viseur, Privat etc. or if you take your ears further east, maybe the cymbalom is the closest instrument in gypsy world.

jero

Paul-Marie Barbier is a terrific vibes player from Paris who regularly plays with gypsy jazz musicians. His first album, with Kamlo Barre and Daniel Givone on guitar, is fantastic and well worth finding.

The warmth of the vibes nicely plays off the attack of an acoustic guitar. Why imitate la pompe when you can do your own thing?

EliPorter

jero wrote: »

Paul-Marie Barbier is a terrific vibes player from Paris who regularly plays with gypsy jazz musicians. His first album, with Kamlo Barre and Daniel Givone on guitar, is fantastic and well worth finding.

The warmth of the vibes nicely plays off the attack of an acoustic guitar. Why imitate la pompe when you can do your own thing?

Wow yeah Paul-Marie Barbier is really good! I found some of his stuff here: https://goo.gl/cvinAZ I love some of chordal stuff he does in solos.

Buco

EliPorter wrote: »

But how does one start with gypsy jazz other than guitar or bass? I can't find any tutorials! What does one do differently in a I guess "standard" swing situation than a gypsy situation.

Why would you try to make it anything else other than your instrument? I don't see a need. Any instructional book you want to study, transcribe and learn the lines and ideas on your instrument. My guess is Django listened to other guitar players the least, he got his ideas from a wide palette of instruments and musicians. That's how he came up with all those crazy awesome sounding concepts. By hearing something on the piano or a trumpet and thinking "that sounds great, how do I do something like that on a guitar?". For now play what you hear, if you continue to stay with and play in the genre and listen to a lot of it, you will start gravitating more to the genre specific tonalities but you don't really need to treat it or think of it any differently that a standard swing jazz. That how Django heard it, at least the pre-war sound.
Good luck and welcome!

François RAVEZ

Hi EliPorter

I did not see it mentionned, so I will recommand listening to the CD "Baro Ferret* ‎– Swing Valses D'Hier Et D'Aujourdhui" which is a re-edition of the LP originally recorded in Paris in 1965-1966 with Géo Dali on vibraphone.

Best

François

François RAVEZ

Don't know what happened I was meaning
Hi EliPorter

I did not see it mentionned, so I will recommand listening to the CD "Baro Ferret* ‎– Swing Valses D'Hier Et D'Aujourdhui" which is a re-edition of the LP originally recorded in Paris in 1965-1966 with Géo Dali on vibraphone.

Best

François

crookedpinky

François RAVEZ wrote: »

Don't know what happened I was meaning
Hi EliPorter

I did not see it mentionned, so I will recommand listening to the CD "Baro Ferret* ‎– Swing Valses D'Hier Et D'Aujourdhui" which is a re-edition of the LP originally recorded in Paris in 1965-1966 with Géo Dali on vibraphone.

Best

François

Good call, I was just about to say the exact same thing. I love the vibraphone playing on thatalbum.

Feruza2134

You should contact Frits Landesbergen. He played vibraphone when he was performing with stochelo.

Lango-Django

Big Red Norvo fan here!

Why do’t you “just” play like him, ha ha!

EliPorter

@François RAVEZ I am in the middle of listening to Swing Valses D'Hier Et D'Aujourdhui. Great stuff thanks so much! And @Lango-Django who doesn't love Red Norvo? I listen to his stuff all the time!

Swing Valses D'Hier Et D'Aujourdhui: https://goo.gl/nxBhtk