Stochelo and DENIS in Montreal!

klaatu · March 2009

Just got back to Nova Scotia from a possibly once in a lifetime experience in Montreal, where Stochelo appeared at the Upstairs Jazz Club with Denis Chang and members of Denis's group. It was nothing short of amazing. Stochelo was everything expected - simply stupendous. Incredible virtuosity, imagination, musicianship, and even humor.

Even more amazing was our own Denis Chang. I've got Denis's "Nature Boy" CD, plus all of his instructional DVDs, and have always been impressed by his playing as well as his skill as an instructor. But Saturday he just blew us all away, more than holding his own with the master. It was simply a delight to see and hear these two great musicians play off of each other, trade hot and tasty solos, and share laughs. They appeared very relaxed and very much a team, generating great star power but no one acting like a star.

I also have to congratulate Denis's other compatriots, Romain Vuillemin on rhythm guitar and Paul VanDyk on bass. Paul wowed the crowd with some great solos, and Romain quietly provided a solid rhythm all night long, the unsung hero of the night.

It was great to see Wayne Nakamura again and to meet up with some folks from New York and Maine who will be at Django in June this year.

Thanks to Denis and the Upstairs Jazz Club for making this possible. Who's next? Angelo perhaps?

NewcastleBud · March 2009

My girlfriend and I made the trip from central Virginia (it's not that long a trip actually) for friday's show. What an incredible opportunity to see a master at work! And Denis and his group were also fantastic. We caught the first set and it was over all too quickly!! But, as I said to Stochelo as we were leaving, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!!

dennis · March 2009

thanks for the nice comments! Stochelo and I are extremely exhausted... 4 days of recording NON STOP!!!! Plus it's not easy to accomodate 5 people in one 's apartment! (so now gonzalo bergara, stochelo rosenberg, andreas oberg, chriss campion, lollo meier, tim kliphuis, emmanuel kassimo, ritary gaguenetti, stephane wrembel, the almighty ted gottegen (my main man!) have all slept on my couch... but i still can't get scarlet johansson!!!)

Anyway, I think we made the ultimate Stochelo Rosenberg instructional DVD .... we might have 5 hours worth of usable material for the "in the style of" DVD... and the waltz DVD is going to be massive (interactive playalong, transcriptions, close ups, chord voicings, etc... etc....)

and since i produced the DVDs you can be sure there will be lots of great gags/pranks..... I actually managed to convice stochelo to do some hilarious gags! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

And now I am off to sleep for a month...

BluesBop Harry · March 2009

Great time to be learning Jazz manouche!
Count me in for all the DVDs and a HD signed copy of the Scarlet Johansson one!

frater · March 2009

Any chance Marisa Tomei? 8)

CalebFSU · March 2009

A Waltz DVD!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: Shit keep me up to date as to when that is coming out. Any ideas which waltzes are going to be on it?

dennis · March 2009

CalebFSU wrote:

Any ideas which waltzes are going to be on it?

as the rhythm guitarist and DVD producer, I'm afraid I have no clue which waltzes are going to be on it.....

haha jk

Two waltzes by tchan-tchou
Three by his uncle Wasso Grunholz
One by Bamboula Ferre
Two of his own compositions

8 waltzes of varying difficulty ... Shot from two camera angles... He shows you the chord voicings that he uses, he slows down the difficult passages for you, and his cousin Manuel shares a very important message about Eddy Murphy at the end of the DVD (Dennis style ending)...

these are the ultimate chopbuilders.... and it's not over yet... a waltz DVD volume 2 is a possibility in the near future

CalebFSU · March 2009

dennis wrote:

CalebFSU wrote:

Any ideas which waltzes are going to be on it?

as the rhythm guitarist and DVD producer, I'm afraid I have no clue which waltzes are going to be on it.....

Merci