First time you discovered this music...

Buco

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/102088#Comment_102088

You and Gonzalo. He said the same thing.

Passacaglia

Loved the film. Samantha Morton shined in an incredibly difficult role - sustaining the (understated) spine of the film, without a single line of dialogue. Masterful actress. After her role as Hattie, I was blown away to see her in The Libertine, where she basically pulled off a double role - a halfling actress coming to brilliance, playing Ophelia. In the second of the two Elizabeths with Cate Blanchett, Morton is vicious and playful as Mary, Queen of Scots. Her recognition of her downfall and the treachery of those closest to her, just a minute used in screen time, is genius - like something honed to the finest, most lethal point, raised to red heat.

I saw the film after I'd come to the music and did really like it. Surprised at the amount of humor in such a bleak pic. That, and pathos - god, "I made a mistake!" and smashing his guitar....

ChristopheCarington

Lived in Paris while finishing up some schooling. Heard similar types of playing in Paris, Venice, Amsterdam, kinda everywhere... and I was like "holy shit these local guys can play!"

Awhile later back in the states I randomly came across a video of Andreas Oberg and Frank Vignola messing around in a truefire lesson (after watching a Larry Carlton lesson) - and I was like "that's the sound!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6VqJDc66oA

That lead me to Rosenberg Trio's version of Bossa Dorado, and the rest is history.

billyshakes

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/102093#Comment_102093

This movie was also very much coeval with my discovery. I can't remember if I saw it before or after my music store experience (which is really the one I think of when I fully realized awareness of this genre). Certainly "I'll See You In My Dreams" has always seemed like a defining song for me because of this movie and its use.

vanmalmsteen

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/102093#Comment_102093

Oh dang! Talk about being in good company.

everything about it was magical, I remember just being fascinated by Emmett Rays odd guitar. If I recall, the opening scene he walks into that crowded silent room and takes a seat with that crazy guitar that had a D Shaped sound hole, sits down and plays, I believe it was mystery pacific. Worst fake guitar playing in cinema history, yet no matter. Just give me chills just thinking about it now that I’m being reminded. That was pushing 20 years ago.

icuker

I think it was old movies I saw as a kid. Didn't realize it then but I loved the music, then in was years, many years later, with online radio streaming I realized it was Django's music. Been a consistent listener and purchaser since. I don't have a gypsy guitar, and would be terrible at playing it anyway, but have started looking at things to try to get a real humble start. I'm too old to master, but I still enjoy musical journey's anyway.

Lango-Django

As a teenager In the Sixties, I was a big fan of Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band (w Bill Keith on banjo!) but soon found out the local mall record store didn’t have too much more good ole stuff like that...

But luckily, the local public library had a nice stash of classic jazz albums and I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with guys like Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Jack Teagarden, Paul Whiteman... and then one day, a Hot Club Quintet reissue album appeared in the bin... I guess I was about 15 or 16...

“Blue Drag” was the very first tune... I had never heard such beautiful guitar playing in all my life... man, he could make that thing cry... and then suddenly come afire with a casual virtuosity that left you dazzled... the real deal...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWfCpQzRY_I

Along with practically every other guitar player on the planet with the possible exceptions of Lang the Father and Oscar the Holy Ghost, I have worshipped Django from that day to this...

Will

Twang

As a kid I was into heavy metal and I was a big black Sabbath fan. I read a guitar magazine with an interview with Tony Iomi, the lead guitarist, one day. He has an interesting story to tell.

At the start of his career he was working in a factory and the last day of work before he left to be with Black Sabbath (They a received a record contract that week) he lost the tips of his fingers in a machine accident. This was obviously devastating for him and he thought his career was over before it had begun. A friend gave him a Django record and told him about Django's injured hand. Iomi was so inspired he fashioned plastic tips for his injured fingers and taught himself to play with them.

When I read this, I had to find out who this great gypsy guitarist was. So that was my first encounter with this music.

Lango-Django

American guitarist Howard ALDEN (not “Stern”) did the sound track guitar work for “Sweet and Lowdown”.

Once upon a time on a jazz cruise, I had a chance to hear Howard talk about the experience, and here is more or less what he said....

The film’s star, Sean Penn, already played some guitar, loved Django and and was keen to really play a bit In the film and not just mime along with Howard’s tracks.

So Howard’s gig for about six straight weeks was to sit in Sean Penn’s trailer near the film set and whenever Penn wasn’t needed on set, Howard would teach him note by note how to play the theme song, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles”... Woody Allen’s sort of weird twist on Django’s immortal version of “I’ll Se You in my Dreams”.

So after several weeks of practising only that one solo over and over and over, who should appear on the set but Sean Penn’s mother...

And in the trailer after Sean Penn played his solo for his mother, she turned to Howard and said, “oh! i always told Sean he should have been a musician!”

Buco

Howard Stern? Will, you have some very autocratic spell checker there.