The Essence of Gypsy Jazz

Bob Holo

scot wrote:

Do most people really prefer the self-limiting "campfire" style of Tchavolo et al to the more sophisticated style of Ferre, Saussois, Mehling, and De Kauter?

Well... I love them both though I think they're different sports - like soccer vs. rugby. They have completely different impacts on me. I come out of a Schmitt concert giving people high-fives and wanting to go find some place to jam till my hands bleed. I come out of a Ferre concert wanting to have a cup of coffee with someone and discuss what we've just heard. To choose one - to give one up - I don't know. My heart is in the campfire and my head in the progressive I suppose. Then again, my musical tases have always been really broad. Hendrix & Hall ... Zepplin & Zawinul ... Metallica & Marsalis...

scot

Of course these appear to be two different things. One is folk music, the other is jazz.

In an earlier post in this thread, Michael Bauer asked if there was any other form of music that tracks so totally from a single person. He suggested that there wasn't, but in fact there is another style with similar roots. Bluegrass is entirely the creation of Bill Monroe, who (like Django) synthesized a number of the various forms of music he'd heard in his life to come up with what is called bluegrass. There are many more similarities between bluegrass and gypsy jazz today than similarities between gypsy jazz and "jazz".

The music created by Django, Baro, Sarrane and others of earlier generations was always a synthesis of different musical inputs: american jazz, musette, european pop, classical, russian cabaret. It was really jazz in the best sense of the word. This kind of adventurous music is now all but gone from the scene. I like and play both styles of this music but I do find it sad (and hard to understand) that so few people here in N America have much interest in moving beyond the fixed riffs and (especially) repertoire.

sockeye

I almost mentioned Monroe when I saw Michael's post -- but I think bluegrass was really the creation of two men. I know this isn't a popular view, especially since Monroe's death, but I think Monroe's Bluegrass didn't really become what we think of as bluegrass until Earl Scruggs joined him on banjo in 1945.

Bob Holo

Interesting thread... though I think I know of a fairly good parallel. I grew up in Trad Jazz where Louis Armstrong is basically held up to some level of Godhood... it really is close if not exactly the same kind of dedication to one player, at least among cornetists who comprise the lead soloists in those bands.

People who are really into Trad will also talk swimmingly about Bix Beiderbecke and Red Allen (as they should, both were amazing in a Ferret/Vidal kind of way) ... and they'll expound wistfully on how Louis would have played differently without the influence of WC Handy (much as people like to talk about Lang's influence on Django - and also Louis Armstrong for that matter) but for fully half if not more of the Trad community, the question is always: "Did Louis play it? Then it's Trad." ... and all this despite Louis being an innovator. The concept of Louis' recordings comprising the repertoire for Trad would have turned his stomach... yet it's not far from the truth.

The comparisons go even further. There are songs where Louis' solos are so famous that they literally are played as though they're the head. It's darned near sacrilege to play West End Blues without Louis' cadenza. The same is true for Django.

...and there's even Dixieland... Trad's "Campfire" music - more folk than jazz and more about Jamming and Dancing - and less about Jazz and Discussion.

...and there's the injury - Django hurting two fingers... Louis overplayed (his manager gigged him ruthlessly) his lip literally blew up on stage one night... split wide open and put him out of the game until he learned how to play with a messed up lip.

...and there's traveling to a new land to get the respect deserved. Django endured racism in Europe - but was welcomed as a hero in America. Louis endured racism in America - but was welcomed as a hero in Europe.

There's even the "Jacuzzi effect" (where the name of one thing stands for the generic form.) When people talk about Gypsy Jazz to newbies they always say... You know... like Django Reinhardt." and in Trad it's the same... "You know... like Louis Armstrong." in their genres, their names are so ubiquitous that the mere invocation of "Django" or "Louis" brings a whole bunch of context.

There's the famous band... QHCF = Hot Fives. I guarantee if you ask any Trad musician to name the seminal trad band it'll be "Hot Fives"

I could probably find a bunch more comparisons - the first 25 years was an indoctrination into Trad probably not unlike the indoctrination most gypsy kids get... My big brother is a cornetist, ... my Mom was... My Grandpa was... etc etc etc... I started playing saxophone before first grade and was playing in public before I could grow decent sideburns... trained classically but played jazz because my parents considered classical music as a good base for learning what I needed to ... in order to play jazz well (I understand it's similar for many young gypsy musicians)

Thinking about it though - there is a bit of a difference between how Louis and Django are perceived though I think it stems more from luck of the draw and genetics than anything else. Louis lived long enough to grow out of the artform which did two things. 1.) It turned him into a more mainstream musician because he lived long enough to where his genre of music was no longer on top. 2.) It allowed people to see he was human... he ventured forward and did some great things - and also... some experiments that were not earth shattering. Had Django lived into the '60s/'70s and maybe done a couple of albums odd enough to offend the purists he might be perceived exactly as Louis is.

At any rate - just my perception - being that GJ is my second musical indoctrination - chronologically at least.

djangology

richdaigle wrote:

We've have a great relationship with a local swing dance group...they come to shows and tear it up, it's great.

you can probably thank the Portland Gypsy Jazz scene for that. the Portland swing dancers brought balboa/gypsy jazz dancing out of the ashes and back into popularity in the last 2-3 years.