User Review: Stochelo DVDs

BluesBop Harry

I remember 4 years ago when I first started seriously getting into gypsy jazz I came across that famous clip of Stochelo playing a beautiful unaccompanied piece in his caravan (Django Legacy ) it was less than two minutes long and I must have watched it a thousand times. I slowed the audio down to figure out the notes and watched the video as closely as I could to see where and how he played them, I wore out my vcr's rewind and pause buttons in the process and had a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it.
Those 2 minutes were all i could find of Stochelo on video at the time ( this was before youtube ) and for me it was like a treasure.
Now four years later Denis Chang has made a dream of mine come true with the release of two DVDs focused on Stochelo's style demonstrated by the man himself:

"IN THE STYLE OF STOCHELO ROSENBERG" and "GYPSY WALTZES featuring Stochelo Rosenberg"

The first dvd follows Wawau Adler's style video, first soloing on 35 gypsy jazz standards at various tempos with Denis providing rock-solid rhythm guitar. Afterwards he gives advice on rhythm playing demonstrating various styles, chords and saying what not to do (very important), on the last section he clearly explains several signature licks and some of the details of his technique including his unique vibrato.
On the "licks" section there are some of the greatest shots of his picking hand available ever, anyone studying the gypsy picking technique will have all their doubts disappear by examining these closely, you can see how he grips the pick and the exact angle and motion he uses. I wish I had this when I first started working on my picking technique it would have saved me a lot of work and guessing.
It's an amazing privilege to have over 3 hours of Stochelo playing to watch on DVD quality with great angles (two options offered), great audio and unbelievable chops and musicality.
Denis' did a great job of coaching Stochelo, helping him put in words what he's doing with his fingers (at one point I was almost expecting to hear him say "superlocrian") and interpreting on the subtitles what Stochelo meant to say, given that our hero's first language is not English. One thing I found kind of funny is that almost all the chapters after the songs start with "So, Now I want to show you..."

The waltzes dvd is very simple, Stochelo plays through the pieces once, there's a replay with an alternate angle and then he goes into some of the difficult bits in detail, slowing them down and analyzing how he picks through them. I loved that at the end of each song Stochelo does another pass showing just the chords he plays for rhythm.
Gypsy waltzes are very demanding technically and they provide a much more entertaining and musical alternative to work on technique than practicing patterns or exercises.
This dvd includes transcriptions on both tab and standard notation but I strongly urge you not to use them, I'm sure they are accurate but since the compositions have very clear melodies and structures it's really not that difficult to learn them just by watching closely as many times as you need, until you can sing the melody in your head and follow Stochelo's fingers with your eyes. In the end you'll not only have the pieces under your belt you'll have developed a much better ear in the process. At least give this suggestion a try before looking at the transcriptions.

I sincerely doubt these DVDs need any help to sell but I hugely recommend both of them, they are absolute must-haves, you won't be disappointed.

In both videos you can see the chords Denis plays and for me that's another valuable feature, since there's often some confusion among gadje (non gypsy) about the right changes and voicings to use. Now you'll finally know.


Rather than going into more detail about the contents of the videos I want to talk about Denis' often misunderstood pedagogical methods:
The "In the style" dvd doesn't come with transcriptions and some have complained about this. The way I see it and why I think Denis chose not to include them, is that this is how gypsies learn and in this case, in my opinion, the gypsy way is the best way.
Takes a lot more work and skill from the student, but figuring out the notes by yourself will give you benefits that you wouldn't get otherwise. Keep in mind that you also have the video to help your ears and to pick out the exact fingerings, positions and pick strokes Stochelo uses.

To really be able to master this language you need to have great ears and be able to pick things up on the first try just with your ears and eyes. I've personally seen the hearing abilities of some of the genre's best players in action and they all have been able to hear a sequence of notes and immediately reproduce it on their instruments flawlessly, often not just a lick but an entire melody, remember that almost none of the gypsies read music they have to use their ears and memorize things quickly. That's also how they improvise, they "hear" something in their heads and channel it through the guitar, as all real jazz musicians have done.
I've been to some gypsy jazz festivals and been able to see a lot of my heroes up close and trust me, no one is going to sit down with you and say "1st finger on the 5th fret of the 1st string then 2nd finger..." it's gonna be more like "here's how i do it" followed by a blaze of notes, probably just once. With these videos at least you can pause rewind and maybe play on some software that allows you to slow it down. This is a method that, if followed correctly, will teach you how to learn and not just how to play a few licks.

Even though I've only played this style for 4 years, I`ve played guitar for over 15 years and in my experience I've found that THE most important skill you can have is a good ear and one of the best ways to develop one is transcribing, working on picking things up from this videos by ear alone (even if the transcriptions are available as in the Waltzes video) will increase your memory and hearing skills tremendously and you'll be better prepared to truly improvise, express yourself, keep learning and you'll be able to engage in a musical conversation with other players.

The only feature I would've liked to have included on theses DVDs is a slow down (audio and video) option, I figured out how to do it through Quicktime, but it would be cool to have it built-in the DVD itself.

Along with the rest of Denis Chang's productions this the best instructional material out there.

http://www.hyperhipmedia.com/HM0021.html

Bones

How do you slow it down in Quicktime?

Thanks

Jack

Thanks for the review, they sound great! It's really amazing what Denis and Wayne are putting out right now--especially when you consider the "Dark Ages" of not too long ago, when I would go to the library to a) use their computer to track down the only Django site available, b), use their dot-matrix printer to print out a rough TAB of Nuages, and c), borrow some LPs to listen to the tune at home, where I wondered how I'd ever meet anyone interested in this stuff. What a world.

best,
Jack.

BluesBop Harry

Bones wrote:

How do you slow it down in Quicktime?

Thanks

First you have to convert it to mp4 or a file type that Quicktime can play, I'm on a Mac and I used a free program called Handbrake. When you play it in Quicktime go to Window> Show A/V controls and then select a slower playback speed.
I believe Windows media player has a similar feature.

Best of luck.

Jack,
Yes, it's amazing how much has become available in the last few years with youtube, Djangobooks becoming a megastore, Denis' awesome productions, and the young french generation starting to take over.
Exciting times to love and learn this music!

JazzDawg

Just wanted to echo the positives in that review. I've only had the DVDs since Monday, but I've been going through them bit by bit. There is just so much presented. It would be impossible to please everyone with any type of video instruction, but for me, these are priceless additions to my library. Just for being able to see Stochelo play up-close and personal is worth the cost. It's like taking a private lesson, only you can take it over and over. While transcriptions would be nice of the solos and 'phrases', there is a lot to be gained from this presentation. I am extracting the Lessons: Lead Guitar phrases section one by one to individual mp4 files, so it's easier to go over them, looping them as I need. It's a bit of a pain, but worth it for me to be able to practice with them. Maybe there's an easier method or video player that allows marking sections for looping, but extracting them is working OK for me.

I especially enjoy the personality of Stochelo being displayed throughout the DVD, he's very entertaining, funny, and patient in his demonstrations. One funny moment is when Stochelo talks about liking to use 'this finger' or 'uh, this one too!'. The value of these DVDs is they detail his style so well. Imagine if we had a Django DVD of similar nature - what a jewel that would be!

Thanks to all involved.

Jazzaferri

I have had my copies for nearly 3 weeks now. I concur with Jazzdawg on the benefit of watching and listening to Stochelo play. SR comments a number of times on generating one's own style. Rather than trying to copy his phrases note for note, I listen to them until I can hum whistle or whatever them and then recreate something that resembles the phrase.

I just wish that I could play them as cleanly and quickly as he does :oops: perhpas in another life

dennis

wow! thanks for the review!

D

placidothecat

Is there a list somewhere of the 35 Gypsy jazz standards played over in the DVD?

Thanks

klaatu

JazzDawg wrote:

... Maybe there's an easier method or video player that allows marking sections for looping ...

Check out Ultimate DVD Player from Roni Music:
http://www.ronimusic.com/dvdplayer.htm

It works directly with a DVD (no conversion required) and allows you to change speed or pitch AND set loop points.

I heartily agree with the endorsements of Denis' teaching method. I've sold all my books on eBay (except Michael H's and Gonzalo's) The only reason I haven't bought the Stochelo DVDs yet is that I'm still trying to work my way through the Wawau Adler DVD!

adrian

placidothecat wrote:

Is there a list somewhere of the 35 Gypsy jazz standards played over in the DVD?

Here's the list of songs on the DVD. Note that many/most of them have multiple versions (a slow version and fast version):

After You've Gone
All Of Me
Avalon
Blue Bossa
Blues in C
Blues in G
Bossa Dorado
Coquette
Danse Norvegienne
Daphne
Dark Eyes
Django's Tiger
Djangology
Douce Ambiance
G Minor Blues
Honeysuckle Rose
How High The Moon
I Can't Give You Anything But Love
It Don't Mean A Thing
Melodie de Crepuscule
Minor Swing
Nuages
Oh, Lady Be Good
Rhythm Changes in B flat
Rose Room
Seul ce soir
Stompin' At Decca
Summertime
Sunny
Sweet Georgia Brown
Swing Gitan
The Sheik Of Araby
Them There Eyes
Troublant Bolero
What Is This Thing Called Love?

I'd highly recommend this DVD! I've really been enjoying it and have gotten a lot out of it. (I'm not affiliated with it in any way -- I'm just a fan.)

Adrian

Tele295

Sounds like fun! It's on my wish list