DjangoBooks.com

art/music

2»

Comments

  • Ken BloomKen Bloom Pilot Mountain, North CarolinaNew
    Posts: 164
    I think there is one aspect of Django's playing is being left out in this discussion. He had a huge background in other musics and a trmendous memory to be able to call this up. He played with a raphsodic freedom that only a few musicians ever achieve. In the speed of the moment he could call up a melody from some other culture or genre and be able to integrate it with ease, fluency, and artistry. This is what drew me to his playing after years of straight jazz, Inidan Classical, and a fair bit of Balkan and klezmer playing.
    Improvisation in Turkish music has very rigid rules, much like a lot of classical Indian playing. In the Balkans it opens up more and the note chhoice is much freer. In a lot of klezmer playing the mode changes frequently. I think it comes down to a very simple proposition. If you listen with bigger ears to a wider choice of music and really try to understand what is behind all these genres, you stand a much better chance of saying something new and interesting. I love the interaction of Western harmony with Eastern modes. The Ottoman Empire left a huge stamp on music throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe. In the end it comes down to your own ability to be able to integrate it all. Compare a bouzouki player like Tsitisanis or Zambetas to what Django was doing. The joy of life is what comes through. I hear the same in Parker and Coltrane. My 2p.

    Ken Bloom
    Ken Bloom
  • Posts: 597
    Fascinating thread.

    About the insularity of GJers and bluegrassers ... I don't know many of either. But the few GJer I know personally have wide musical interests, and the same seems generally true of this forum. Though most of the talk here is quite focused on GJ, I get the sense that there are some open ears around here.

    Scot's comment about players not being trained in jazz is insightful I think, although I'd wonder about what that specifically means. If you are studying gypsy jazz, then you are studying jazz, correct? What would you consider the proper course of study for a jazz player? Could you still be a jazz musician if you don't study bebop or soul jazz or free or whatever jazz? IMO being trained in jazz has do with being immersed in an improvisational culture and also being aware of the tradition.

    Since I don't have too many GJers in my area, I tend to play with folks from different backgrounds and ultimately we mix it up a bit when we get together. Manouche swing, Texas swing, country, blues, bossa, standards all get thrown in the pot. I'm always playing my grande bouche and even using some of the GJ techniques and licks and voicings, but it isn't always gypsy jazz.
  • Posts: 597
    Just remembered this and thought I'd follow up.

    Romane and Stochelo Rosenberg's Double Jeu (maybe others) has an incredible sense of give and take between soloist and rhythm gtr, as well as some tunes outside the GJ tradition (Blue Rondo a la Turk, Nature Boy).

    Also, their Gypsy Guitar Masters shows some incredible duo interplay.

    :wink:
  • AndoAndo South Bend, INModerator Gallato RS-39 Modèle Noir
    Posts: 277
    Oh, don't get me started on modal harmony, which I love. In my other musical life, I sing a lot of Gregorian chant, which of course is 9th century, pre-major/minor, utterly fascinating compositionally, and very satisfying to sing. Not at all "pound your head with Missal" kind of music -- check out the Nova Schola Gregoriana and a magnificent bit of harmonization by some Belgian priests in the Forties called the Nova Organi Harmonia. Ravishing music, all of it, and all just unaccompanied melody.

    What's the connection? The Ferre brothers. Boulou especially loves Olivier Messiaen, who is famous for notating bird-song but also for composing quite a lot with symmetrical modes he calls "modes of limited transposition." He was also very interested in rhythmic palindromes. His Catholicism was of a particular kind, very exuberant and mystical, very focused on transfiguration and prismatic displays of harmonic color. He was a gifted improviser and a magnificent teacher. It's intensely interesting to me to think that Boulou and Elios consider him a kindred spirit. Much of Messiaen's music is incredibly challenging, both technically and aurally. Speaking for myself only, I find it very, very hard to warm up to his music, but that is because my own harmonic habits are limited. I can perceive order and beauty in his music, but it is a strange world indeed, and unfamiliar.

    If gypsy jazz has taught me anything, it's that music really is an amalgam of so many things: personal, technical, as well as cultural histories. It is definitely a music of the road, and like birdsong, its natural element is the open air. Keep it fresh.

    2p
Sign In or Register to comment.
Home  |  Forum  |  Blog  |  Contact  |  206-528-9873
The Premier Gypsy Jazz Marketplace
DjangoBooks.com
USD CAD GBP EUR AUD
USD CAD GBP EUR AUD
Banner Adverts
Sell Your Guitar
© 2025 DjangoBooks.com, all rights reserved worldwide.
Software: Kryptronic eCommerce, Copyright 1999-2025 Kryptronic, Inc. Exec Time: 0.005615 Seconds Memory Usage: 1.007805 Megabytes
Kryptronic