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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 10:41:36 GMT
Although only a quintet, Django, amongst other things, was influenced by big bands, particularly Duke Ellington, and this arrangement reflects that, with Django comping in the style of a horn section. Interesting. I thought Reinhardt could only play octaves rather than full chords due to his condition. Not a tribute to Stephane, then..? |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 10:57:10 GMT
Ha. Well, squint and you might just buy it. In that respect it's not really any worse than Norman Granz's film of Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins, is it..? 😆 "What are you doing?" "I'm making a film about improvisation" "Oh right, so the aim is to capture improvising musicians in the act of spontaneous creation" "Exactly" "So, what are you doing now?" "I'm booking an artists' studio, so i can get the musicians to mime to playback..." This one? It's also referenced in that BBC4 docu I posted. |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 10:59:04 GMT
Ha. Well, squint and you might just buy it. In that respect it's not really any worse than Norman Granz's film of Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins, is it..? 😆 "What are you doing?" "I'm making a film about improvisation" "Oh right, so the aim is to capture improvising musicians in the act of spontaneous creation" "Exactly" "So, what are you doing now?" "I'm booking an artists' studio, so i can get the musicians to mime to playback..." This one? It's also referenced in that BBC4 docu I posted.  That's the one! |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 10:59:28 GMT
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 11:02:39 GMT
Hold on...this is from that f*cking documentary, isn't it..? |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 11:31:47 GMT
Although only a quintet, Django, amongst other things, was influenced by big bands, particularly Duke Ellington, and this arrangement reflects that, with Django comping in the style of a horn section. Interesting. I thought Reinhardt could only play octaves rather than full chords due to his condition. No, he could use chords in certain shapes and inversions that more or less fitted the shape of his deformed hand. He played a lot of triads and used them in a 'walking' manner sometimes playing a fifth in the bass instead of the root. I'm assuming from previous conversations that you understand some music theory, so you may be aware, a three note chord can transpose as different chords albeit by using a different chord tone as the root, and you can also add an extended note top. So if you play a D9 for example, it becomes an Am6 simply by changing the root note to the 'A' and damping off the 'D' note. Django used this shape for many of his minor chords because he couldn't physically play a conventional minor chord. Similarly, he could play a half-diminished chord on the middle 4 strings, for example Bm7b5, which can double as an inversion of Fm6 chord, albeit with the minor 6th as the root. (Usually a bassist would be playing the 'F' note anyway) The exact same chord shape can also be used as a G9, and Django would use his thumb to get the 'G' if it was a solo piece, or again leave it to the bass player. For major chords he generally used a 6th chord inversion with a fifth in the bass, or a 6/9 chord. Although he couldn't physically achieve many conventional chord shapes, he turned his limitations to his advantage by adopting a pianistic approach. Although he was musically illiterate, (he was illiterate full stop. He couldn't read or write, and Stephane Grappelli talked him how to write his name to sign autographs) he was just a clever bastard with an amazing ear.  This video from 1938 contains the only surviving footage of him playing a full track. Bear with it during the introduction/exposition. |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 11:38:40 GMT
Not a tribute to Stephane, then..? Maybe! I've not heard that before, but what's your thinking here? |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 11:39:34 GMT
Hold on...this is from that f*cking documentary, isn't it..? Yep. |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 12:01:47 GMT
Not a tribute to Stephane, then..? Maybe! I've not heard that before, but what's your thinking here? Oh, no thinking involved. Just innuendo... |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 12:03:34 GMT
Hold on...this is from that f*cking documentary, isn't it..? Yep. Bollocks... |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 12:09:27 GMT
Maybe! I've not heard that before, but what's your thinking here? Oh, no thinking involved. Just innuendo... Which obviously went over my head. Did you know that Django had never played an electric guitar until he went to the USA to tour with Ellington in 1946? |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 12:15:18 GMT
Also, this jam with Dizzy on tour in Europe in 1953 was witnessed but nobody recorded. Now if I had a Tardis.....   |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 12:16:45 GMT
Oh, no thinking involved. Just innuendo... Which obviously went over my head. Did you know that Django had never played an electric guitar until he went to the USA to tour with Ellington in 1946? I don't think i was aware that he played electric at all until you posted those pieces previously. Let alone that he was getting his head around Bebop. Who knew..? |
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Post by UncleDeadly on Nov 17, 2024 12:21:34 GMT
Also, this jam with Dizzy on tour in Europe in 1953 was witnessed but nobody recorded. Now if I had a Tardis..... Wow. Too bad Bird wasn't there or it probably woud've turned up on the Philology label.... |
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Post by Ludders II on Nov 17, 2024 12:26:52 GMT
Which obviously went over my head. Did you know that Django had never played an electric guitar until he went to the USA to tour with Ellington in 1946? I don't think i was aware that he played electric at all until you posted those pieces previously. Let alone that he was getting his head around Bebop. Who knew..? Yes, if only he'd lived a bit longer. It definitely changed his playing, and he made it his own. I think he got it, but being weaned in an entirely different musical brewing pot, the gypsy romanticism never went away completely. Although he did nick Hot House on his last recording of What is This Thing Called Love in 1949. It was during his final recording session with Stephane, ironically, and he was starting to make Steph sound a bit old-fashioned. Although Steph went on to make a great record with Oscar Peterson in the years to come. |
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