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You’re not alone in this! I’ve talked to other rhythm section folks—bassists, drummers, pianists—who’ve said similar things. It’s like certain soloists unlock something in your playing you didn’t even know was there. Next time you’re gigging with one of those “metronome” players, maybe chat with them about it—see if they’re conscious of it or if it’s just how they naturally roll. Either way, it’s cool you’re noticing this—it shows how tuned in you are to the music! Anyone else out there feel this too?
I've played mostly as an accompanist for the last 30 years, and as solid as my lead players have been, the music always breathes--that is, it's not mechanically metronomic**, but the variations are small and subtle, which is quite different from the uncertain rhythm I described above, or from the common general speeding up/dragging that one finds among less proficient players.
Which is not to say that my job is not to provide a solid foundation--my "one" ought to always be where it belongs, so the soloist or vocalist can play around with it as needed. Nevertheless, I sometimes feel like I'm breathing along with the leader, and it's a pretty nifty experience.
** I can't practice with a metronome--it's distracting and, well, metronomic. But then, I have trouble with conventional counting as well, which I can never manage to do in real time even though I can understand it well enough when working up a tune. I can follow a chart, but I am basically an ear player.
Yeah, the eternal 2/4 question. I've come to see it as both are equally important. I've come to this via a local friend, Steve, and Sebastien G. Both stated that 1/3 is very important and can not be ignored. What I do now is I tap my foot on 1/3, so 1/3 is my foundation. I try to groove with the music in 2/4, my chest is feeling 2/4.
This morning I recorded a couple of choruses over Hungaria at 290. But I played mostly 1/4 note phrases. For one I was curious about hearing if it can be ok and interesting and musical to play simple like that over a high tempo. And also, when I practice with the metronome in 2/4, once I go over a certain bpm number, my ear easily switches to hear it as 1/3. So I try to practice just hearing the metronome as 2/4. It's not easy to say the least. That's one of the reasons I wasn't trying to connect my phrases but rather a phrase, pause, another phrase, pause etc...
Lastly, my metronome practice is more about forcing myself to create a harmony that a listener can follow vs relying on a backing track to fill in the spaces where my playing may not quite do it. VS practicing a good time. But on the other hand, the groove, or a lack of it gets exposed much more obvious when you play along with the metronome vs a backing track.
I just used 2 and 4 as an example, I also just used a metronome as an example. It could be 5/8 or a child clapping their hands. The point I was making is that how you syncopate your solo, in relation to the rhythm player, can create different effects. One effect is swing and you can make the rhythm player swing more or less depending on how you syncopate. Think of how hard Django makes the rhythm guitars swing on django's tiger. If we took the next solo, the same guitarist would not sound as swingy.
All good points. I'm not following your last sentence...are you saying a different soloist would make exact same rhythm section sound not as swingy?
Yes, just like you can make a metronome more or less swingy depending on how you syncopate against it. This is how a good soloist can lift the whole band up. Think Armstrong.
Excellent discussion on a fascinating aspect to this music, thanks to everyone who chimed in here. As is typical on this forum (with a shout out of gratitude to our host, the birthday boy) , you all have deepened my curiousity and intense interest in playing gypsy jazz. I waited to respond until I played more gigs where I could really think about this issue on the bandstand. And I'm noticing it more than ever. The 2 guys I play with the most consistantly offer up Russell's "stretch of smooth, newly paved road". I asked my violinist about it (per Stefano120's suggestion) to see if he knew what I was talking about and/or had any thoughts on the matter. He's a monster player, but a humble, modest guy. His response was very gentle, something along the lines of "we were told in music school that you can't really teach someone to make their solo swing, but you can teach them to try to make it swing". Regardless, as Buco said, it's a joy to accompany such a player.