Help analyse "Minor Swing" (Chocolat soundtrack)?

Brooke

I have to write an essay about "Minor Swing" and how it is used in the movie Chocolat for school.
I´m having problems with the musical analysis, particulary with what Gypsy-Jazz elements are used.
Is there anybody who can help me? I´d really appreciate it!

Lango-Django

Brooke, I saw the movie awhile ago, and can't remember exactly what version of Minor Swing was used... I'd suggest you provide a YouTube link to that particular version of the tune, for the convenience of posters here; I suspect most of us would be more than happy to help you if you made it easy for us.

Are you a guitar player yourself, or just a student who has to write an essay?

It would help us help you if we understood more clearly what you already know about gypsy jazz.

Perhaps you could share what you've already done on your essay...?

Will
Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON

dennis

it''s johnny depp's version who based most of his solo on django reinhardt 's 1937 solo...

seeirwin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxEP_Urd ... re=related

Brooke

No, I´m sadly no guitar player. I´m a student from Germany and have to write an essay about it. I´m new to this topic, but I was always interested in it, that´s why I picked it.
I have to write it for a course about film music. My topic is how the different cultures of the protagonists are dealt with in film music based on "Chocolat". I already wrote about the history of "Gypsy-Jazz" and about Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. I have also written about defining figures in "Gypsy-Jazz", like arpeggios, double-stops... It´s just the part of Gypsy-Jazz elements in Minor Swing missing!
Thanks for helping!!!

(Sorry for my English)

dennis

about the defining figures in Gypsy Jazz that you mentionned (arpeggios/doublestops): these are defining figures in many other musical styles not just GJ...

defining figures in Gypsy Jazz would be a focus on string based instruments as opposed to brass and drumkit. Heavy use of ornaments in the phrasing, thick chord voicings with emphasis on bass notes, etc..

as far as the minor swing in chocolat goes, it's loosely based on django reinhardt's 1937 version, otherwise the GJ influence is very superficial in that recording, as it's missing those very defining figures that i mentioned... (very little use of ornaments , weaker chord voicings, use of percussion, etc...)

redblues

For folks in the UK, Chocolat is on Film 4, Wednesday 2nd Nov at 18:35. Not too bad a movie, maybe slightly twee, Alfred Molina is excellent as an overly puritan reverend.

Bones

can you post an mp3 audio or wmv video clip of the part that you are working on?

Lango-Django

I listened to the link... this version of Minor Swing uses a Latin rhythm section, which I suspect that most of us GJ purists here would view as an inferior commercialized version.

HotTinRoof

I always thought this version of Minor Swing was pretty catchy. Good movie too - had decent character development.

Here is the Minor Swing tab that I had bookmarked sometime ago:
http://www.acsalaska.net/~lonkelly/PDF/MINORSW4.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/98661/Minor-Swing-Tablature

Head on over to IMDB and you'll find the credits.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0241303/soundtrack

The composer for the film is Rachel Portman. For these specific songs the players were:

"Minor Swing/They're Red Hot/Caravan"
Produced and Arranged by Bob Last / Malcolm Ross
Guitars Johnny Depp / Malcolm Ross
Percussion Iain Stoddart (as Ian Stoddart)
Harmonium Malcolm Ross
Recorded at Finiflex Recording Studio, Edinburgh
Engineered by Robin Hickman & John Vick
Mixed by Nick Wollage at Air Studios, London

There are a few guitar tabs where the author falsely sights Mark Knopfler as having played 'Minor Swing' in the film but the official credits don't mention him. So it may just be someone's wrong guess which propagated its way through the interwebs.

Jazzaferri

Trying to be non judgemental in this I felt Depp's version to be a relaxed nonchalant rendition. 8)

Haven't seen the movie so no context.