Dave Biller?

drolling

Was reading your imaginary lineups in the 'SuperDjangoFest' thread and kept seeing Dave 'Leroy' Biller's name come up again & again. I'm primarily a tele player and have been enjoying Dave's 'Hot Guitar' album with Wakefield on steel as well as Wayne Hancock's 'Thunderstorms & Neon Signs' for a few years. It doesn't surprise me one bit that this severely under-recorded chick'n picker's also a disciple of Django. Does he have anything out in this style? If so, where can I get it?

Thanks,
David

djangology

yeah, a lot of people in the gypsy swing community would love to hear him play. hopefully he can get out to one of the Djangofests someday... there is a CD available but you have to order it overseas from Japan evidently...

Jack

True. It's available from Buffalo Records, and you can hear some mp3 samples (and order) here:
http://www.buffalo-records.com/buffalocds/artist16.html
If that doesn't work, it seems to be available at HMV Japan also:
http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail.asp?sku=1998690

Good hunting,
Jack.

drolling

Thanks Jack,
I'd order it in a NY minute but my command of Japanese is even worse than my french.
Quelle drag..
dr

djangology

you can also order the Jazz Pharohs CD, which Dave also is part of (http://buffalo-records.com/buffalocds/index-bu.html). The price on these I think is $20 each CD.

Archtop Eddy

Dave's Gypsy jazz CD, called "Leroy", is a gem and one of my favorites from last year. I spoke with Dave in February with the intent of interviewing him for the Archtop Eddy's Corner, however, my work-issues got in the way and the interview never happened. He seems like a great guy and I hope to conduct the interview sometime soon so we can all get to know him better.

A.E.

Jack

Archtop Eddy wrote:

Dave's Gypsy jazz CD, called "Leroy", is a gem and one of my favorites from last year.

Just in case it matters for anyone's web search, the full title is "Leroy's Swing".

Best,
Jack.

Archtop Eddy

Thanks Jack for clarifying that. It's a great CD; worth looking up and getting.

A.E.

Ando

Archtop, interviews are a wonderful idea, but they are time-consuming to transcribe and post. Fortunately, if there's a way of capturing their audio, they can be posted somewhere as audio. No transcription necessary.

Cheers,
Ando

MichaelHorowitz

posting audio is no problem...just send me the files.

'm

trumbology

On this disc, Biller is laid back but not polite/bland, and for me it really wears well. He's got all the chops I could hope for, and the band seems tight and familiar with the repetoire. Being a clarinet fan, the other lead instrument is an extra bonus for me. Some tempos are up or medium-up, but there aren't any ridiculously fast tempos (not that there's anything wrong with ridiculously fast tempos!). Tasty tasty stuff. For the record, the band is bass, two rhythm, clarinet, and Biller on lead guitar. Three originals (which are above average, imho) and the rest are tunes associated with Django and his followers. A couple of waltzs, if I remember correctly, and I like them a lot (I'm a 3/4-time fan in general, but strangely, I get kind of bored by a lot of GJ waltzes).

I think he's switching back and forth between acoustic Selmer and Stimer-pickup Selmer, depending on the appropriateness to the tune at hand. Can anyone confirm this?

Obviously I love this one and hope others go to the trouble to get a hold of it (maybe Djangobooks could get a few in?). More info/commentary on Biller's other projects would be appreciated.

Neil