first post

longbody

my first venture from home was the winter of 1971 in Manitou Springs!
What an awesome place!

I'm new to Gypsy Jazz and I'm having a hard time getting the confidence to really get into some tunes. There are no gypsy jazz players here but the players love the chords and rhythm (how the hell do you spell rhythm anyway) that I can kind of bastardize at times.

Any suggestions on first songs to approach?

Archtop Eddy

Thanks for the nice words about Manitou Springs! In 1971, this was like Love Generation central, loaded (so to speak...) with hippies, artists, musicians, and the like. Now many of those folks have grown up, had kids, and are getting ready for retirement. Their chosen lifestyles, however, are still reflected in the daily life here. It's a great town with a great sense of community, nestled at the foot of Pikes Peak with turn of the 20th century Victorian homes and resorts. I hope that one day I may even host a Djangofest here... Djangofest Manitou Springs: DFMS.

On to your question about the best first songs to learn. While others may scoff at this idea, I think the best first songs are still Minor Swing, Daphne and Dark Eyes. Minor Swing, because it's easy and gets you quickly into the Gypsy Jazz thang; Daphne because it shows you how to get through basic rhythm changes ala Gypsy Jazz; and Dark Eyes because while it's simple, it's ripe with chord variations and studies of diminished and half-diminshed (aka minor 6th) chords.

Scot Wise and I were talking one day, and concluded you could write a great article just about approaching Minor Swing -- both rhythmically and via solos. If you could write an article about Minor Swing, you could easily write a whole book about Dark Eyes.

Using the right chord shapes is instrumental in gaining the appropriate sound and feel of Gypsy Jazz rhythm. I remember one time when Francois Rousseau and I were both young pups (back at Samois 2000, I think), I watched him backing Matcho Winterstein on Bossa Dorado. While Francois was playing the right chord, Matcho would "correct" him insisting that Francois play this inversion or that. Each time Francois changed to the new chord shape, the whole song changed. The song would take on that certain Gypsy sound and Matcho's liberties at soloing would suddenly snap into place. So, again, while others' opinions may differ, I still think Robin Nolan and Paul Meader's play-along books are a great way to gain this type of basic understanding of this style. Plus with the play-along CDs, you can have a playing partner to work with. For starters, I suggest starting with book 1.

Now there are other sources -- many free on the internet; but I leave those details for others to suggest.

So come on. Help out our new friend here with a few suggestions.

A.E.

longbody

Thanks!

I have Robin Nolan's "Gypsy Jazz Licks" and will proceed on with that book as you suggest.

My memory of Manitou Springs is pristineness. It was clean, beautiful and COLD! We were kids and left out to see what we could at a tender age. I remember stealing eggs from the market downtown, I think the owner knew, we were just hungry. I remember going through the old abandoned railroad tunnels throught the mountains, skiing down slopes of gravel just standing at an angle with only shoes on our feet. It was a good time in my life and good place to be. I've only been back to the Rockies once since. It's odd how they look like "Blue Steel" Ah! and idea for a song.

I'm a songwriter that has a foundation in Jazz Piano. I studied with a renown local artist in New Orleans, he grew up with Ellis Marsaillis, they were in garage bands together and had to learn from records. Kids have it easy today with all the books, cd's video's dvd's; but, as I see it in my kids, they are lazy and generally do not have the discipline to practice. They get instant gratification from learning a song from tab and playing along with the cd. Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing, but scales, arppegios, patterns, theory and such are a must.

I used to have a little band about 10 or 12 years ago and we played only original songs, we could do three sets and not repeat a song. Made a cd and all. Now my songs are taking on a different flavor as I enter my twilight years and am able to incorporate more Jazz progressions into their structure. I play a few of them for my muscian friends and they love the sound of the "Jazz Chords". I like your comment on inversions, I will keep that in mind as I learn these new tunes.

A festival in Manitou is an excellent idea and could turn into something big. It's centrally located and would allow for more people to visit. And, the scenery is awesome.

How's the air pollution now? Do you have HAZE?

Archtop Eddy

Alas, the air is clean here. We -- thankfully -- do not have haze like Denver.

Just to clarify: When I said Robin Nolan and Paul Meader's first play-along book, I didn't mean his Gypsy Jazz Licks. That is a much later book, working on soloing ideas. I'm referring to their "The Gypsy Jazz Play-Along CD (Book 1)" which contains tab and chord charts for 12 Django songs including Minor Swing, Daphne and Dark Eyes.

Also, based on your latest comments, the suggestions I made may be too simplistic. I think you would still gain insight from the above ref'd book, however, you sound like a fella whose been around the music block a few times.

I think, given your level of proficiency, you'll find Dennis' insight and suggestions very useful. Be sure to check out his Techniques section in this forum.

A.E.

Jack

Archtop Eddy wrote:

Just to clarify: When I said Robin Nolan and Paul Meader's first play-along book, I didn't mean his Gypsy Jazz Licks. That is a much later book, working on soloing ideas. I'm referring to their "The Gypsy Jazz Play-Along CD (Book 1)" which contains tab and chord charts for 12 Django songs including Minor Swing, Daphne and Dark Eyes.

Also, based on your latest comments, the suggestions I made may be too simplistic. I think you would still gain insight from the above ref'd book, however, you sound like a fella whose been around the music block a few times.

I think, given your level of proficiency, you'll find Dennis' insight and suggestions very useful. Be sure to check out his Techniques section in this forum.

A.E.

To add to Eddy's Nolan endorsement, I'd suggest Colin Cosimini's chord books as a way to break into more 'gypsy' progressions. They've got a lot of substitutions you won't find in Robin's books (which are great for basic changes). Not everyone is crazy about them, but I think they've got a lot to offer. You can find them at either www.hotclub.co.uk (look in the shop section) or www.cosimini.co.uk

Best,
Jack.

Ando

I'll second (or third, or perfect fifth?) Archtop's suggestions:

- Minor Swing (obligatory)
- Dark Eyes (obligatory)
- Daphne (rhythm changes in two keys)

I'd add two blues:

- Blues Clair (major)
- Blues en mineur (minor)

Plus a swing tune for learning to negotiate lots of movement by fifths:

- Sweet Georgia Brown

"Exactly Like You" would be good, too, because the A section changes are like "A Train" changes, i.e., I-II7-iim7-V7-I.

Then I'd throw in a simpler ballad which could be uptempo'd for kicks:

- September Song (because "Nuages" has been done to death) :-)

And of course we can't forget a musette valse, such as:

- Chez Jacquet (major)
- Valse des Niglos (minor)

You're in for a very enjoyable learning curve. Try to get lots of recordings of the songs you're working on so you can see/hear/learn variations.

Cheers,
Ando

longbody

Thanks for the help. The specific songs suggested are helpful in that they will expose me to different nuances of the Gypsy Jazz style. I will heed the advice as ya'll are players and I'm a beginner. Thanks again.