| The Musical Art of Gypsy Jazz |
Other Gypsy Jazz
Another great artical by David McCarty about the Django-inspired musicians.
Django's Heirs: Contemporary Gypsy Jazz
By David McCarty for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine
Much like Bill Monroe's bluegrass music now reverberates through such
unlikely locales as Japan, Czechoslovakia and Norway, the Gypsy jazz sound
pioneered by Django Reinhardt has captured a growing worldwide audience.
Hot Club bands play in clubs and concert halls around the world, and the
music that once captivated Europe now holds converts around the globe.
In recent years, a new generation of Django-inspired musicians has emerged,
often expanding upon the boundaries of the music to create new, exciting
sounds. In the U.S., John Jorgenson, former guitarist with Elton John
and the Desert Rose Band, was an early convert. He released a stunning
LP (later reissued on CD) in the 1980s called After You're Gone. On the
first side he played Django style guitar and on the other, he recreated
the sound of the Benny Goodman Quintet with Jorgenson playing both Charlie
Christian's electric guitar parts and Goodman's swinging clarinet style.
If you can find that CD, I highly recommend it.
Other West Coast luminaries include Raul Reynoso, who played guitar with
banjo great Larry McNeely and has now immersed himself in the Gypsy jazz
style. His self-produced CD, Royal Street, offers 13 tunes, including
his great original, "Matelot," (recently covered by former Winfield
champion Robert Shafer on his latest CD, Watch Your Step). Reynoso is
a model clean, lyrical, melodic Gypsy swing guitar, and I hope he records
again soon.
Farther up the coast, the Bay Area has been a prolific scene for all types
of acoustic music, and for Gypsy jazz in particular. Paul Mehling, (profiled
elsewhere in this issue) leads the renowned Hot Club of San Francisco,
and is a formidable teacher and video instructor in the Django style.
The HCSF has five CDs out, available on their excellent website at www.hcsf.com.
A superb composer, Mehling has crafted many great original tunes and also
brilliantly adapts other material to the Reinhardt tradition. On the latest
CD, a live recording called Claire de Lune, he creates a Gypsy jazz version
of guitarist Pat Metheny's modern jazz classic, "James" that
sounds as if it came straight from the 1930s.
Still further north, one encounters the strikingly original Pearl Django
(www. pearldjango.com), which includes former bluegrass flatpicker Dudley
Hill, who now plays big-band archtop guitar. With four CDs out under their
own name and several others as collaborators, Pearl Django has created
a strong audience for Gypsy jazz throughout the Pacific Northwest. The
band also helped develop and promote a Gypsy jazz festival at Whidbey
Island, Washington, last year. Rhythm guitarist Shelley Park also is one
of the finest luthiers building Selmer-style guitars in the world today.
Many other U.S. artists contribute to a growing Gypsy jazz scene. Jorgenson
plays with Bryan Sutton and 2001 Winfield champ Richard Smith in the Hot
Club of Nashville. Fiddler Mark O'Connor came under the spell of Reinhardt
partner Stephane Grappelli with the two violinists played together on
tour with David Grisman in the 1980s. O'Connor now performs regularly
in a Gypsy swing trio with former Grappelli bassist John Burr and NYC
guitarist Frank Vignola. Although not strictly a Django-style player,
Whit Smith plays superbly on a 1920s Gibson L5 in the Austin-based Hot
Club of Cowtown. In Madison, Wisconsin, Harmonious Wail (www.wail.com)
not only keeps the swing tradition alive, they've helped introduced the
Amsterdam-based Robin Nolan Trio to American audiences.
In the New York area, guitarist Frank Vignola is one of the jazz masters
closely allied with the Django legacy. In addition to his work with O'Connor
and their brilliant CD, Hot Swing!, Vignola has released numerous CDs
on his own and has his own Hot Club-style group, Hot Club USA. Most recently,
he's released a thoroughly brilliant CD of solo Gypsy jazz guitar-Blues
for a Gypsy- on David Grisman's Acoustic Disc label. This is guitar virtuosity
at its highest level, a must-hear CD for anyone who appreciates this style.
Cross the Atlantic to the British Isles, and Django's music has always
been popular. Guitarist Martin Taylor toured for ten years with Grappelli,
releasing several CDs with the master violinist before striking out on
his own. Perhaps the most accomplished jazz guitarist in the world today,
Taylor can play any style and has recorded with David Grisman and many
others. On his own, Taylor currently plays and records with a Hot Club
style band called Spirit of Django that offers some very unique interpretations
of classic Django material. Listen to their Latin syncopated version of
"Minor Swing" from their debut CD to see how original this music
can be.
Another relatively unknown British guitar with a rare gift is Gary Potter,
who has released several solo CDs showcasing his acoustic and electric
renditions of classic Hot Club material. Ian Cruickshank, author of several
books on the Django style, also records under his own name and has several
good CDs out. He also promotes an annual Gypsy jazz guitar festival and
releases live CDs from these performances. British guitarist and journalist
Andy Mackenzie covers the Gypsy jazz guitar scene for Just Jazz Guitar
magazine and has a fine CD out, Tales From The Hot Club, that also features
John Jorgenson.
In Europe, of course, great Gypsy jazz abounds. Stochelo Rosenberg of
the Rosenberg Trio is considered by many to be the best of the best today,
but there are literally dozens of great European musicians touring and
recording superb CDs in this style today. In Amsterdam, the Robin Nolan
Trio (www.rnt.com) melds Latin jazz, swing and Django sounds into a unique
style. One marvelous recent CD of theirs, Nat Meets Django, features an
American jazz singer doing Nat King Cole classics to the sound of a Hot
Club band. Great stuff!
Romane, a classically trained guitarist turned Djangophile, plays especially
delightful Gypsy jazz. His latest solo CD, Samois-sur-Seine, includes
duets with Django's son Babik as well as the brilliant guitarist Angelo
Debarre. Romane also has a duet CD with Stochelo Rosenberg out, Elegance,
that pairs two of the best in a delightful session.
Stochelo's young cousin, Jimmy Rosenberg, is another huge talent. A founding
member of the Gypsy swing band Sinti, Jimmy is well-known at the annual
Samois festival and has recorded extensively on his own and with Jon Larsen's
Hot Club of Norway. Another player credited as being not only technically
superb but supremely musical is Tchavolo Schmitt, composer of the modern
Gypsy swing classic Tchavolo Swing. His most recent CD, Alors?...Voila!
is filled with great material and inspired playing.
Another brilliant improviser is Raphael Fays. I was less than impressed
with his Gypsy Voyages CD, but his newer release, En Concert, will blow
you away with his speed and musical exploration on the fingerboard. Other
great European-based players include Fapy Lafertin, Boulou Ferre, and
the young German, Joscho Stephan, who plays Django style with the sweet
tone and gifted ear of Kenny Smith's perfect flatpicking.
Of course, this list is only intended as an introduction to the modern
heirs to Django's grand legacy. Take the time to explore the web, look
up CDs on amazon.com and the new www.dellarteinstruments.com website,
and follow the Gypsy jazz discussion group on yahoo.com for more detail
information on this growing scene. For flatpickers eager to expand their
technical skills and explore new dimensions of musical expression, there's
an entire universe of astounding flatpicked acoustic guitar music to discover.
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