Gypsy jazz

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Gypsy jazz (also known as "Gypsy Swing") is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s.[1] Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources.[2] Django was foremost among a group of Gypsy guitarists working in and around Paris in the 1930s through the 1950s, a group which also included the brothers Pierre "Baro" Ferret, Etienne "Sarane" Ferret, and Jean "Matelo" Ferret and Reinhardt's brother Joseph "Nin-Nin" Reinhardt.[3]

Many of the musicians in this style worked in Paris in various popular Musette ensembles. The Musette style waltz remains an important component in the Gypsy jazz repertoire. Reinhardt was noted for combining a dark, chromatic Gypsy flavor with the swing articulation of the period. This combination is critical to this style of jazz. In addition to this his approach continues to form the basis for contemporary Gypsy jazz guitar. Reinhardt's most famous group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France, also brought fame to jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli.

Gypsy jazz, along with traditional Gypsy music, is learned by the passing down of knowledge from older generations. Many Gypsy musicians do not read notated music. It is more common for beginners to spend hours learning and memorizing songs from recordings and gleaning techniques from more experienced players.

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[edit] Instrumentation and lineup

The original Quintette du Hot Club de France played acoustically without a drummer, facilitating the use of the acoustic guitar as a lead instrument. Guitar and violin are the still main solo instruments, although clarinet and accordion are also common. The rhythm guitar is played using a distinct percussive technique, "la pompe", that essentially replaces the drums. Most gypsy jazz guitarists, lead and rhythm, play a version of the Selmer-Maccaferri guitar design favored by Reinhardt himself.

Although many instrumental lineups exist, a group including one lead guitar, violin, two rhythm guitars, and bass is often the norm. Ensembles aim for an acoustic sound even when playing amplified concerts, and informal jam sessions in small venues or meetings such as annual the Django Reinhardt festival at Samois-sur-Seine are very much part of the scene.

In Eastern gypsy jazz, rhythm section is most likely covered by one or two cymbaloms, or (less frequently) a cymbalom and/or drums and an acoustic guitar (the cymbalom accompaniment technique is called in Romanian "ţiitură"). An upright bass fills out the ensembles.

George Cole performing original Gypsy Jazz music at a nightclub in NY, before Carnegie Hall performance.

[edit] Techniques

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Gypsy jazz is a unique guitar discipline, and due to this, is associated with multiple techniques that are definitive of the sound of this music.

[edit] Rhythm

Rhythm guitar in gypsy jazz uses a special form of strumming known as "la pompe". This form of percussive rhythm is similar to the "boom-chick" in bluegrass styles; it is what gives the music its fast swinging feeling. The strumming hand, which never touches the top of the guitar, must make a quick up-down strum followed by a down strum. The up-down part of la pompe must be done extremely fast, regardless of the tempo of the music. It is very similar to a grace note in classical music, albeit the fact that an entire chord is used. This pattern is usually played in unison by two or more guitarists in the rhythm section.

Another important aspect of this style of playing is based on the chord shapes Django was forced to use due to his injury. Standard barre chords are not an acceptable form in gypsy jazz, and these are instead replaced with chords that use just two or three fingers, often with one or more guitar strings muted by the left hand. Standard major and minor chords are almost never played, and are instead replaced by minor 6th, major 6th, and 6/9 chords. Dominant seventh chords are often altered by lowering the 9th and 13th scale degree.

[edit] Lead

There are many techniques associated with lead playing in this style. As mentioned above, chromatic notes play a large role in this style of music, as do arpeggios. Many of Django's solos contain arpeggios where each note of the arpeggio is preceded by its own leading tone. Another important aspect of lead playing is the glissando, in which the guitar or violin player slides up a string, articulating each note on the way, in order to get a fast, virtuosic sound. Another important aspect of gypsy jazz lead is the use of diminished chords and arpeggios. Diminished runs, in which the shape of a diminished 7th chord is played in all inversions, one after the other, is a widespread gypsy jazz technique. Diminished 7th arpeggios are also used over Dominant 7th chords. (Example: If an A7 is being played, a diminished run starting on C# would be played, creating an A7b9 sound over the dominant chord.) Guitarists often intersperse virtuosic melodic playing with percussive sequences of chords to create a varied solo. Violinists use slides, double stops, and pizzicato (plucking the strings).

[edit] Repertoire

Gypsy jazz has its own set of frequently played standards distinct from mainstream jazz, though contemporary ensembles may adapt almost any type of song to the style. Many standards are in minor keys, and the dorian and melodic minor modes are frequently heard, lending a distinctively dark and modal sound to the tunes which contrasts with the uptempo and spirited performance style. One popular example is Django's tune "Minor Swing", perhaps the most well-known Gypsy jazz composition. Slower ballads and duets may feature rubato playing and exotic harmonies.

[edit] Contemporary Gypsy jazz

Gypsy jazz is thriving today, with fans and practitioners — some faithful copyists, others innovators — found all over the globe. The largest audiences and highest caliber of musicians are still found in Europe as this is where the style originates.[4] Tim Kliphuis, Stochelo Rosenberg, Biréli Lagrène, Joscho Stephan and Tchavolo Schmitt are perhaps the most famous performers today.[citation needed] There is also a substantial American Gypsy Jazz movement headed by groups like Pearl Django, John Jorgenson Quintet, and George Cole. As well, on the West Coast, performers like Fabrice Vignati and Tracy Vignati (The Vignatis) created a new form of music, Gypsybilly related to Gypsy Jazz by the use and sound of the rhythm and lead gypsy guitar.


[edit] France

Other outstanding contemporary Manouche instrumentalists in the Django Reinhardt/Le Jazz Hot Tradition, as heard annually at the Festival de Jazz Django Reinhardt at Samois-sur-Seine, France, include[citation needed] Django's grandson David Reinhardt[5], Dorado Schmitt, Fapy Lafertin, Jimmy Rosenberg, Jon Larsen, Angelo Debarre, Babik Reinhardt, Moreno, Patrick Saussois, Dario Pinelli, Ritary Gaguenetti, Robin Nolan, John Jorgenson, Samson Schmitt, Mandino Reinhardt, Stephane Wrembel, Evan Perri, Biréli Lagrène, Florin Niculescu,Angelo debarre, / Tchavolo Hassan, / Angelo Licusatti , and Marius Apostol.

Some cafés where Jazz Manouche can be heard regularly include 'Au Clairon des Chasseurs' in Place Tertre, Paris, and 'la Chope des Puces', Saint Ouen.

[edit] Benelux

Django Reinhardt was born in Liberchies, Belgium and is commemorated by a yearly Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival held there. Some modern players such as Fapy Lafertin also hail from Belgium.

The Netherlands is home to a number of contemporary players such as the Rosenberg family (Jimmy, Nou'sche, Nonny and Stochelo), Lollo Meier, Fapy Lafertin Quintet, the Robin Nolan Trio and the Tolga Trio.

[edit] Germany

The German gypsy-jazz scene has a rich history with a variety of famous players such as Schnuckenack Reinhardt, Lulu Reinhardt (composer of "lulu swing"), Wawau Adler, Titi Winterstein, Zigeli Winter Quartet,Romeo Franz, Joe Bawelino and many more. Today gypsy-jazz has its share in cultural life in Germany, thanks to the activities of the late Eberhard Tscheuschner, who was the founder of the Djangofestival in Burgthann, the restless Bernhard Gierstl (Djangomemorial) and Norman Ort, who runs the site gypsyguitar.de not only for business reasons, but to keep a music alive. The main events are the annual Djangomemorial Festival in Augsburg (organised by Bernhard Gierstl), the Djangofestival in Burgthann/Nuremberg, the Sinti-Festivals in Hildesheim and Koblenz.

[edit] Hungary

The Hungarian group, Hot Club of Hungary[6] plays high quality gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, and the Hot Club of France.

[edit] Romania

Gypsy jazz came into prominence in Romania only in the early 1990s, when Gypsy music was featured on recordings as a different approach to lăutari music (Gypsy folk music). It is however probable that these practices date decades back, but no such recording is known for evidence. Gypsy jazz of Romania would rather make use of vocals in the 1990s and, following a hiatus at the turn of the centuries, that of the early 2000s is instrumental music, even tighter to the traditional lăutari orchestra setting.

While lăutari music was highly appreciated and frequently recorded in communist Romania (late 1940s to 1989), a mix between jazz and lăutari music never emerged on tape during that period. In the early 1990s, numerous musicians who weren't previously permitted to record at the national record label Electrecord, saw their debut releases. It was a couple of Gypsy singers who would mix lăutari music with jazz and pop (mainly Arab pop) and thus create Romanian Gypsy jazz and manele music respectively. The best known ensemble of the 1990s to perform Gypsy jazz was that of singer Nicolae Guţă, which was compared by critics with Django Reinhardt's repertoire (mostly for the very fast pace of the music and for the virtuosity shown off by musicians); besides, the modern sound (featuring electrical guitar and synthesizers along with fiddle and accordion) was also appreciated positively.[7] Guţă's Gypsy jazz was issued on foreign discs and caught interest in European countries, mostly France. By late 1990s Guţă renounced jazz music and started singing manele (Gypsy pop) music instead. However, his recent compositions hint a possible returning to his jazzy "roots".

Instrumental Gypsy jazz of the 2000s was developed by artists such as clarinetist Mieluţă Bibescu and his band (featuring traditional lăutari instruments, such as the cymbalom and double bass). Their jazz combines melodic patterns featured in swing jazz and lăutari music; Bibescu's band sometimes improvises over classical music "standards".

Romanian quartet Hot Club de Bucharest showcases a more "traditional" approach of gypsy jazz. The band performs regularly in Bucharest; its repertoire comprises gypsy jazz standards, as well as new compositions written in a similar style.

[edit] Spain

Spain is home to guitarist Biel Ballester and Pere Soto's group Django's Castle.

[edit] United Kingdom

The UK is the birthplace of Robin Nolan and is still home to players Gary Potter and Diz Disley, as well as player and scholar Ian Cruickshank. John Etheridge combines jazz-rock fusion with forays into Gypsy Swing. Martin Taylor has worked with Stephane Grappelli and performed a widely-heard Djangoesque piece for the "Papa and Nichole" TV advertisement for Renault.

London has a specialist Gypsy Jazz venue, Le QuecumBar, which concerts featuring some of the world's musicians, such as Angelo DeBarre, Ritary Gaguenetti, Gary Potter, John Jorgenson, Moreno, Lollo Meier and many others. Regular gypsy jazz sessions are held near Ormskirk, Lancashire (Beaufort Jazz [8]), Northampton (the Black Cat) and Brighton and Hove (Club Chat Noir [9]at the Hanbury Club [10]). There are study groups in Marlow and Penzance[11] (both called 'Club Django').

‘The Gypsy Jazz Guitar Festival’ was held from 1997 to 2000 and a series of festivals called L'Esprit Manouche was held in Moseley, Birmingham in 2003/4/5.

[edit] North America

DjangoFest NW, a celebration of Gypsy Jazz, takes place each September at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley, Washington, in the USA, which typically features such performers as John Jorgenson, The Rosenberg Trio, Dan Hicks, Pearl Django, Argentinean ex-pat and guitar virtuoso Gonzalo Bergara, Hot Club of San Francisco, Hot Club Sandwich, and the Canadian guitarist Marc Atkinson.

Every year, in August, New York's Lincoln Center hosts a Concert at Rose Hall, and the world famous Jazz Club, Birdland, in New York, features a week long Gypsy Jazz concert series in November.

The Hot Club of San Francisco (www.HCSF.com) has been bringing Gypsy Swing to America (and beyond) since 1990. Paul "Pazzo" Mehling is credited with being one of the earliest influences on american interest in the Django Reinhardt resurgence. Instructional videos & DVDs have encouraged and launched many of the US guard of Django disciples including the Clearwater Hot Club,the Golden Gate Hot Club and Duo Gadjo. They have the distinction of being the first American gypsy jazz ensemble to play at the prestigious Festival du Django Reinhardt in 2000 at Samois sur Seine, France.

George Cole and his group Vive Le Jazz have been touring nationally, most recently playing at Carnegie Hall in 2008. His original Gypsy Jazz inspired music was chosen for a Grammy's showcase. He plays an original Selmer 520 that Django Reinhardt used on tour in France in the 1940's.

Los Angeles, hometown of the "Birth of the Gypsybilly"[12] created by The Vignatis [13], a blend of Gypsy Jazz Guitar and Rockabilly Guitar.

Canada is home to player and teacher Denis Chang, luthier and rhythm guitarist Shelley D. Park and ensemble Van Django.

[edit] Russia

Se.Vi.Дж. [14] Saint Petersburg ...Gypsy-Jazz, Swing, Manouche, Guitar music...

[edit] See also

[edit] References and further reading

  • Stan Ayeroff Jazz Masters: Django Reinhardt Amsco ISBN 0-8256-4083-0
  • Ian Cruickshank The Guitar Style of Django Reinhardt and the Gypsies
  • Michael Dregni, Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing, OUP, ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1
  • Romane and Derek Sebastian: L'Esprit Manouche: A Comprehensive Study of the Gypsy Jazz Guitar Mel Bay ISBN 978-0778666895-6

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 10–13. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1. 
  2. ^ http://www.jazzpartout.com/jazzmanouche/ English language site on "Jazz manouche."
  3. ^ Dregni, Michael (2004). Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend. Oxford University Press. pp. 60–63. ISBN 0-19-516752-X. 
  4. ^ http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/manouche_jazz_750 National Geographic World Music site on "manouche jazz"
  5. ^ Dregni, Michael (2006). Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz. Speck Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-933108-10-0. 
  6. ^ Hot Club of Hungary
  7. ^ Keefner, Kurt. Review for The Greatest Living Gypsy Voice, allmusic
  8. ^ Beaufort Jazz
  9. ^ Club Chat Noirt
  10. ^ The Hanbury Club, Brighton
  11. ^ Club Django, Penzance (IE only)
  12. ^ Gypsybilly review
  13. ^ The Vignatis
  14. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

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