Keep Practicing…

I continue to work through the Bert Ligon book,“Connecting Chords With Linear Harmony”, and find it really helping me along. While I would love to have an index of the recordings he used to pull specific examples he notates. I just would like to hear them in context. I don’t have an extensive collection of jazz records, so having a list of the recordings would help me zoom in on a few of them. Still, I’ve gotten some pretty good music lately, and listening closely.

I’m trying to get some lessons scheduled to help get me more focused, but that’s proving a bit difficult. Oh, well, I’ll just keep practicing and when the time is right, it will happen.

What To Practice…

For about the last 2 weeks, I’ve been studying from the Bert Ligon book, “Connecting Chords With Linear Harmony”. Bert’s book contains a wealth of information and examples, that has really improved my ability to hear, and develop solos lines. I’ve heard about the book for some time, but finally decided to bite the bullet and get it – and I’m really glad I did.

Really Useful Book

If you are having difficulty thinking about what to play or how to connect your ‘licks’ with the next chord, then, I’d really suggest you get this book. Whether you are new to jazz, swing, or gypsy jazz, you can get a lot of ideas from the many examples in the book. Of course, be a bit prepared to learn how to read music, as the examples are in standard notation – no tab. I don’t find that much of an issue, and the reality here is: you gotta put down the tab, if you want to learn the ‘saxophone’ (guitar in my case).

If the price of the book is too steep for you, or you just want to see what all the fuss is about, check out the “freebies” available on the National Jazz Workshop site. You’ll find pdf docs that contain samples of the basic 6 “outlines” Bert talks about in the book.

If you do nothing else, do this: learn these outlines, and I stress learn them! I know guitar players are notorious for not being able to read music, and not learning how to play in all keys. I grew up as a prime example of that mode of thinking – and it severely limited me. Now, I practice these types of exercises in all keys, and read music, more than tab. Give it a shot, and I’d bet that after 2 weeks of just working on these outlines in all keys, you will begin to see huge gains in your understanding of the guitar fretboard. I know it’s helped me tremendously. I think that’s the key, too, if you can visualize the fretboard, you can begin to see and think about what to play, no matter where you are playing on the guitar.

Cheek To Cheek…

I’m finding it so useful to really go back to these tunes from the great American songbook. I’ve been working on ‘Cheek to Cheek’ by Irving Berlin, featured in the film ‘Top Hat’. What a great song. Not to take away from Fred Astaire’s version, but I really love Ella Fitzgerald’s take on it. What a treasure her voice is!

One of the things experienced players will tell you about learning how to improvise is – ‘sing to the tune’. It really doesn’t matter if you’ve got ‘golden chops’, what matters most is getting yourself to hear the melody. When you can hear it, the notes will fall under your fingers. Well, it’s taken me a long time to heed those words, but I’m finding that my playing is really improved as I’ve concentrated on listening, and singing to a tune while learning it. What really helps is having a great model as an example. My feeling is you can’t go wrong with listening to the great jazz and pop vocalist from those great swinging years. Singers like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and others have such wonderful instruments in their voices. There’s a lot to learn from just listening to them sing these older swing tunes.

Of course, you have to know your instrument, as well. So, there is still a need to practice, arpeggios, scales, and learn to play various chord voicings. The trick I’m finding is blending all of these elements and feeling comfortable playing a tune – and that means playing it in a variety of ways until you own it.

Here are some examples of this tune I’ve found useful…

Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Frank Sinatra
Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald

Check them out, and look for others yourself. Enjoy, and keep swinging…

Where You At?

Been a long time gone, eh. Just fighting through RSI in my right arm’s inner elbow area. Hurts to play very long. I’m dealing with it, but it does make things more difficult. So, mostly gypsy style strumming is out of bounds right now. Not that I had it down all that much, but it does take more physical movement than what I can comfortably execute.

No worries, though, I play on doing what I can. Mostly, I think what I’m doing is more ‘Hot Swing’ than real ‘Gypsy Jazz’ anyhow. So, that’s what I’m talking about here. Songs that come from the style of Louis Armstrong, Eddie Lang, and Django Reinhardt. That’s the kind of music that interests me most.

Most of the tunes are from the Great American Songbook, but, naturally, this flows into the gypsy jazz style nicely too.

Currently, working on ‘How High The Moon’, ‘Swing 42′, and ‘Cheek To Cheek’. Quite a collection of swinging tunes. More later…

Harlem in Montmarte…

Excellent documentary on the Jazz era in Paris during WWII and the post war years. Not much else to say other than if you get a chance to watch it, do it. The PBS site has some information on the segment, and there is a book that covers the material. Lots of good footage and information about the players of the age, too. Can you ever get enough? Not me.

The band assembled to play the tunes during parts of the show were really hot too. I don’t know if there’s a soundtrack available, but I haven’t seen it on the PBS site or Amazon.

The end credits listed the band but they flew by so fast, most folks couldn’t pick them up. Of course, someone captured it, as the PBS site has nothing on them, even though a lot of folks complained and inquired about the players. Well, here’s screenshot offerred to fill the gap from another fan. Apologies to PBS, but just offering a public service. (If they object, I’ll remove the image.)

Matelo Ferret and Olivarez Trio…

After listening to the Rosenberg Trio’s version of ‘Choti’, I found myself wanting to hear more valses. On the advice of some folks over at DjangoBooks forums, I got hold of a copy of Matelo Ferret’s ‘Tziganskaia And Other Rare Recordings‘. The collection contains 2 versions of ‘Choti’ and others are tunes that are a treat. The recordings are well done, and you can almost imagine being on a chair beside the player. It’s warm and personable. The playing is a demonstration of pure gypsy power and passion. The versions of ‘Choti’ differ from the Rosenberg’s version, and are full of raw flashing technique. The term ‘shredding’ comes to mind, but that would not describe the feeling that Matelo puts into his playing. His playing is just awe inspiring.

Also, on my playlist is the Olivarez Trio’s ‘Adieu, Bienville’. Guitarist Rick Olivarez leads the trio on a similar trip of visiting older gypsy jazz tunes, including ‘Choti’. The tunes run the gamut from older valses to Django’s ’50s tune ‘Double Whiskey (Double Scotch)’, and original composition. His playing ranks him among the top players, in my opinion. The bass and rhythm are first rate, and provide the force behind his solos, executed with typical power and grace. ‘Double Scotch’ and ‘Choti’ are getting quite a workout on my player.

Both of these sets are highly recommended.

Hot Club of Kansas City?

Kansas City’s history as a hub of great jazz is well documented. Artists such as Charlie Parker, Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, and Joe Turner honed their sounds here. The list of top jazz players serving residence in Kansas City’s ‘school’ of jazz is long and star-studded. Today, there are more venues hosting some really nice talent than in years past. The Gypsy Jazz scene is relatively invisible, though. I’m hoping that this situation will improve in the next year. When Django appeared in Kansas City in 1946 as a guest soloist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, reportedly 2000 patrons watched and cheered, mostly for the Duke, no review mentioned Django, even though he received billing as the ‘world’s greatest guitarist’.

On Saturday, the centennial of Django’s birth, the Folly Theater was host to a performance by Mark O’Connor and his Hot Swing band. The performance included guest guitarist, Frank Vignola. This time around, about 950 patrons attended and were treated to the sounds inspired by Django and Stephane, and the other musicians in the Hot Club of France. Read a review of the concert here.

Hopefully, we’ll see more GJ artists make their way to Kansas City. Until then, it would be nice to find a club that would host even a night of listening to GJ, whether it was live or just playing some the repertoire in the growing catalog of GJ music available. Remember the good old days of nursing your favorite beverage at Milton’s Tap Room on Main? The music played jazz steadily, and a sign over the bar read, “No requests – Like man, it’s free!” Wouldn’t it be great to find a spot like that open up again?

Is a Hot Club of Kansas City too far-fetched? I don’t think so. Kansas City has a wealth of talent, and it’s just a matter of time before this infectious music bursts through and catches on with the music lovers in the area. Want to hear more? Me, too!

Django In Kansas City…

Django at Pla-Mor, 1946

Happy Birthday Django!!! I’ve been doing research on Django’s 1946 North American tour. It’s a point in Django’s life that was difficult for him, both personally, and professionally. He and his wife had gone through the trauma of losing his 2nd son, Jimmy, and his status a major attraction in his beloved Paris was fading.

Django had a dream of coming to America and becoming a huge hit, and was hopeful that he would be a film star, as well. However, without his long-time associate Charles Delaunay, Django found himself relatively alone in a strange land. The promise of becoming a big American star went unfulfilled. Later, Django would comment…

“You see brother, I prefer being the first in Rome than the second in Kansas City”.

There’s precious little information on the tour, and I was really interested in finding out more about the dates listed as stops in Kansas City. I found a couple of ads for the Kansas City Nov. 17, 1946 date. I’ll try to scan them for posting later. The ad, also, announces another event being held at the Music Hall on the same date and time, so it was a concert in the large arena. Ticket prices ranged from $2.50 for boxes and loge seats, $2.00 for balcony, and $1.50 for General Admission. The show was promoted by A. & N. Presentations. In the ad, Django was billed as “DIANGO REINHARDT – World’s Greatest Guitarist”. The advertisement appeared in the Kansas City Times, and The Kansas City Call Weekly newspapers. The ‘Call’ weekly was a Black community newspaper. It’s kind of funny that both ads misspelled his name as ‘Diango’.

There was a review of the concert in the KC Star, on Nov.18, 1946, headline reads “Duke Still At The Top”. The review calls the concert a ‘preview of next week’s Carnegie Hall concert’. It is reported that 2,000 people cheered the Duke and his band, but no mention whatsoever of the ‘world’s greatest guitarist’. Though, he did receive billing, I suspect that the reporter didn’t know who he was or was just unimpressed. Either way, it’s sad to me.

My thanks to my old college buddy, Bill Osment, now a researcher at the Kansas City, Mo. public library for his help. Also, thanks to Michael Dregni for his great books on Django and gypsy jazz, which are must reads for anyone interested in learning more about Django and the music he brought to the world.

100 years, since the birth of Django, and his music lives on. Vive Django!!!

‘Chocolate Boy’

Sweet and Lowdown Guitar

If you’ve watched the Woody Allen movie ‘Sweet and Lowdown’ starring Sean Penn, you probably noticed the guitar used in it was a Dupont MC-50. It’s painful to watch the end of the movie (where ‘Emmet Ray’ smashes his guitar). I wondered if that was a prop or not, and I hated to think an actual Dupont would be destroyed for the sake of art. Of course Hollywood’s destroyed far more than a guitar in the course of movie making.

Well, I can rest at ease, as a post on the Djangobooks forums tells us, with some authority, that the smashed guitar was a prop. The actual guitar was owned for a time by Paul Mehling of the ‘Hot Club of San Francisco‘. The guitar was built for the film and features a custom finish color, “Cognac Amber.”. It’s really a beautiful sounding and looking guitar. The current owner is Jack Fields.

You can actually read all of the details about it on theGallery Dupont web site.

Cheers!

Grilles and Videos

Here’s a site, I just found today, Grilles Jazz Manouche. Nice collection of videos and chord grilles to a good range of gypsy jazz ‘standards’. Each tune features a video of it being played, along with chord voicings, grilles, downloads in pdf and GP5 format. Some have play-along videos, as well. Nice introduction to the tunes, chords, and chord grilles are nice.

Enjoy…

Cheers!