Rome 1949 Recordings with Grappelli

Svanis1337

I guess this is just how they played while touring Rome, and they had to record so many songs for this session there probably wasn't much time for arranging, except maybe a few tracks in their repertoire. Just record & go, so they decided on Gianni Safred playing a piano intro. On a side note, what do you think of the Geneve 1949 and Rome 1950 sessions? They're the last recordings of Django playing Swing and André Ekyan's playing clarinet and saxophone simultaneously on Boogie-Woogie.

Teddy Dupont

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/104157#Comment_104157

I do have a problem with the 1950 Rome/Ekyan sessions and I think it is mainly because compared to Django, Ekyan sounds rather dated, even leaden, and definitely out of place thereby creating an overall incoherence to the proceedings. Also the rhythm section is often a bit stodgy and uninspiring. If you can overcome these deficiencies then Django’s solo playing is generally very good. However, the unison playing on “A-Tisket A-Tasket” shows a real taste by-pass from everyone involved and it is arguably my least favourite Django recording ever.

I don’t think this was a good time for Django emotionally. As a result, he was no doubt “going through the motions” on occasions rather than enjoying what he was doing.

Teddy Dupont

I’ve just listened to the 1949 recordings with Ekyan again. These sound much more cohesive and everyone involved swings more. The clarinet works better for Ekyan but he even sounds lighter and more agile on the sax here. Some really great playing from Django. For me, altogether a significantly better session than the 1950 one.

No piano introductions anywhere which means the Rome sessions with Grappelli remain an enigma in that sense.

Svanis1337

I agree with you, but that was also a session with a huge amount of tunes recorded. Django and Grappelli definately had better chemistry than Django and Ekyan. On the '49 Grappelli sessions they were definately having a laugh recording all the Chansons and "The Peanut Vendor" which Django often threw in as a joke during solos.

wim

Haha, I don't find A-Tisket A-Tasket to be that bad! Ok it's not a very inspiring head in the first place - being like a nursery rhyme, and not a particularly easy to make anything with - but neither of the soloists totally fluffed.

Probably the worst recording was in these Rome 1949 sessions though. And that's El Manisero (peanut vendor). Rambling and incoherent, doesn't sound like they have anything prepared on it, maybe that was just a jam which got recorded accidentally and never intended to be actually released?

Django sounds like he has no idea wtf he's doing - so many fumbled notes, and bad phrasing like someone who has never heard Cuban music before. Can't really believe that you could take this maestro of swing and they would suddenly be lost on a latin groove, so my only explanation is perhaps they'd gotten too stoned to perform comprehensibly at that stage. 😜

Teddy Dupont

I think Django plays “The Peanut Vendor” as a joke. It should not be taken seriously. His solo is truly silly and if that’s the way it is then that is the way Django intended it to be for whatever reason. Django was too good a musician and improviser to fumble and get lost. If he felt he had lost his way, he would have simply stopped the recording. Perhaps he thought it was funny to play like that but whatever his reasoning, it goes alongside “A-Tisket A-Tasket” as one of the very few Django recordings that leaves me totally cold. - I still think the Grappelli/Django Rome sessions were great though.

We of course get the occasional belch to add to the tonal atmosphere.

Svanis1337

"A-Tisket A-Tasket" and some other tunes from the '50 Rome sessions are in the soundtrack of the recently released Mafia: Definitive Edition. Personally I don't particularly like the tune.

I think that was Grappelli belching/sneezing in the '49 sessions. Must've been sick that day.

Teddy Dupont

Perhaps the next important thing to do in this thread is to accurately identify who it is who actually belches. From memory, it is during Django’s beautiful solo on “I can’t get started”.

Svanis1337

I could swear there's another tune with belching, and at least two with sneezes/coughing. "The world is waiting for the sunrise" has a sneeze/cough during Django's solo at 0:58, and there's more during the piano solo between 1:28 and 1:32.

Grappelli is the only one not playing during Django's solo, being free to cough or whatever, which leads me to believe it's Grappelli who is sick. There are no noises while he is playing. He would also be standing close to the (only) microphone and at head height, so it gets picked up extra well.

Piano and Drums would be too far away to hear a belch, the bassist is a possibility. I don't think it's Django because you're too "in the zone" to belch/cough while playing during a recording session.

BillDaCostaWilliams

Perhaps the next important thing to do in this thread is to accurately identify who it is who actually belches

This is vital work, obviously, and I think the first step would be to establish the range of each the artists: sounds to me like a baritone belch (2.04 below) so that could help in narrowing it down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoq7qegMxs8