Comping on Les Yeux Noirs on Jazz a Viennes DVD

dlloyd

I was watching this DVD last night and was intrigued to see the different approaches each player had towards the rhythm for this tune (Les Yeux Noirs)

Tchavolo Schmitt's playing in particular had me fascinated, it seemed he was using quite a few chord substitutions to add interest. I couldn't quite work out what they were though...

Anyone have any idea what he was doing?

I could see that Stochelo was approaching the A7 chord with a quick Bb7 (?), which works quite nicely as a dominant approach chord.

The chords I use are:

||A7 | A7 |Dm6* |Dm6* |
|A7 |A7 |Bb7 |Bb7 |
|Gm6 |Gm6 |Dm6* |Dm6* |
|Bb7 |A7 |Dm6* |Dm6* ||

*voiced like Bm7b5, second fret.

nwilkins

I don't have the DVD here to watch it, so I can't answer that. However, I will say that playing rhythm in the GJ style usually involves quite a lot of substituting and changing things throughout a song. You can listen to what the soloist is doing and if he is implying alterations you can match him. Or you might want to play a sub chord to create tensions through dissonance with the soloist before resolving on the next chord. There is a degree of improvisation in chord sub and voicing choices, so looking at your chart I would recommend that even if you don't use sub chords, at least vary the voicings every now and again.

As an example of subs in this tune, here are some that I believe Sami Daussat uses once or twice during Les Yeux Noirs in the Astuces Book vol. 1:

Em7b5 | A7B13 | Dm9 | Dm6(Bm7b5) | Em7b5 | A7b13 | Dm9 | D7b9 |
Gm6 etc....

dlloyd

Thanks for the reply!

nwilkins wrote:

I don't have the DVD here to watch it, so I can't answer that.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZey9fRiH4w

dlloyd

nwilkins wrote:

As an example of subs in this tune, here are some that I believe Sami Daussat uses once or twice during Les Yeux Noirs in the Astuces Book vol. 1:

Em7b5 | A7B13 | Dm9 | Dm6(Bm7b5) | Em7b5 | A7b13 | Dm9 | D7b9 |
Gm6 etc....

I could have sworn I replied to this earlier today.

I take it the substitutions you mention are the ones in the final chorus on track 7, with Angelo playing the solo? (edit: yes, it's written in the score... doh!)

I was playing about with this piece this morning and one thing I noticed is that Sami consistently replaces the A7 with a C#○7, which is very cool. (edit: actually he appears to replace the first bar with C#○7 and the second bar with Bb○7)

I guess it functions as an A7b9. Might also be fun to play about with G○7, Bb○7 and E○7 on the A7.

czecko

Good question!
I was just watching this clip the other day. This whole concert was so good that it functions as repeated entertainment/learning tool. Tchavolo's (and everyone's) playing on this is great.

MichaelHorowitz

BTW...the new Gypsy Rhythm book includes a complete transcription of Django's comping on the 1947 and 1950 versions of Dark Eyes. Really great stuff....on the 1947 he does propulsive bass and chords style comping for two choruses straight. The 1950 version is filled will cool chord subs, syncopations, and minor riffs.

I also wrote several examples of advanced Dark Eyes variations used by the gods of Dutch Rhythm: Nous'che Rosenberg and Martin Limberger.

dlloyd

I'm looking forward to getting my copy... when are they shipping?

MichaelHorowitz

The official date is May 15.

nwilkins

dlloyd wrote:

I was playing about with this piece this morning and one thing I noticed is that Sami consistently replaces the A7 with a C#○7, which is very cool. (edit: actually he appears to replace the first bar with C#○7 and the second bar with Bb○7)

I guess it functions as an A7b9. Might also be fun to play about with G○7, Bb○7 and E○7 on the A7.

yes, since the A7 is going to Dminor, an A7b9 (or rootless A7b9/diminished chord) will sound good. That is one of the most common 'substitutions' in this style on minor tunes, both when playing rhythm and soloing.

dlloyd

Here's the first of the shots of Tchavolo comping. It starts at around 0m57s in the YouTube video and covers the three bars emboldened below:

||A7 | A7 |Dm6* |Dm6* |
|A7 |A7 |Bb7 |Bb7 |
|Gm6 |Gm6 |Dm6* |Dm6* |
|Bb7 |A7 |Dm6* |Dm6* ||

He's playing two substitutions/voicings per bar.

These are my interpretations of what he's playing. Comments please?

Bar 8 (Bb7), 1st half: E9? x7677x (Edit: can't be... his first finger is at the seventh fret.) (Second edit: It could be a Bb6/9 without the root... x8x788)



Bar 8 (Bb7), 2nd half: A○7? 5x454x (Edit: not sure on this one, but his third finger looks like it's higher up than that)



Bar 9 (Gm6), 1st half: Gm6? 3x233x



Bar 9 (Gm6), 2nd half: A○7? 5x454x



Bar 10 (Gm6), 1st half: Gm7/Bb? 6x576x



Bar 10 (Gm6), 2nd half: C○7? 8x787x



The shot changes at this point. I'd expect it to go to Dm6 (Bm7b5) rooted on the E string.