Gypsy Rhythm is Here!

Teddy Dupont

I have had Michael's book for about a week now but have still barely touched the surface of what is a massive body of work. However, it is already clear to me that if you want to play gypsy jazz rhythm, you must have this tome. There is something for everyone from the new starter to the experienced player and it is presented in an eminently readable and comprehensible form.

There are over 260 instructional pages with the most incredible number of standard and gypsy jazz chord shapes, page after page of turn-arounds, fills, closures etc together with chord sequences and rhythm techniques and, magnificently, some transcriptions of Django's accompaniments. The latter I found particularly fascinating in that they clearly illustrated the wonderful effects the master could achieve with relatively simple chord shapes proving as he often did that less can be more.

To most of us I am sure, instructional books such as this can only be of limited help because no matter how clearly the music is written (and here it is very clear), the printed page cannot indicate exactly the sound, emphasis and timing required. In order to overcome this problem, Michael has included 3 audio CDs to illustrate each exercise or transcription, no matter how simple or complex. CD 3, for example, has 94 tracks!

This is not a cheap book but I believe is value for money in that it is incredibly comprehensive and will of be use for many years into the future and certainly as long as you continue to play gypsy jazz.

I must confess, I have a real problem with the title though and in order to overcome the threat of my having a tantrum everytime I see it, I have made the following modification my cover. :roll:

MichaelHorowitz

Thanks Roger...I'll make sure and make that edit in the next reprint!

I've read some of your thread on the HC forum. I'd be just as happy to use other terms such as jazz manouche, Hot Club music, Django music, Parisian jazz, etc. However, the term "gypsy jazz" was pretty well established by the time I started writing these books, so it was already too late to use any other term.

The popularity of the term is probably due to the fact that it's the English translation of the French term jazz Manouche. To my understanding, jazz manouche is the more commonly used term among French speakers. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Ironically, most of the Gypsies I interviewed during my research in The Netherlands just thought of it as jazz. Most of them had never heard much jazz other then Django anyway, so their whole concept of jazz was based on Django. Although that's starting to change...

Most of them simply thought of the Gypsy element as way of playing jazz. But the music was just jazz.

Roger, thanks for your help with the book. Glad you like it!

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Teddy Dupont

Michael even an old reactionary like me has finally come to terms with the moniker "Gypsy jazz" but the abbreviated "Gypsy" is something that I will never be able to cope with. Excellent book though despite that.

MichaelHorowitz

Teddy Dupont wrote:

Michael even an old reactionary like me has finally come to terms with the moniker "Gypsy jazz" but the abbreviated "Gypsy" is something that I will never be able to cope with. Excellent book though despite that.

Well, it may actually be a more appropriate term for my book if you consider that la pompe is most likely a gypsy invention. It's one of the unique aspects of this style. I've never heard any American or other jazz musician do anything like it (unless they were copying Django of course.) With that in mind, I think it's safe to say that the book really is about Gypsy rhythm.

Of course, Django mostly played flat four. But don't tell anyone!