Transcript gypsy jazz - Cert3music

GYPSY JAZZ
Some background
• The French gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and
the violinist Stephan Grappelli formed, in 1934,
Le Hot Club Quintet du Paris. This group
established a unique style of music called Gypsy
Jazz.
• Gypsy Jazz draws from the music of the Roma or
gypsy people, American Swing, French Musette
and flamenco.
• Django Reinhardt is regarded as one of the most
influential guitarists of the 20th century
Le Hot Club Quintet
Stephan
Django
This group paved the way for the Lead Guitarist!
French Roma people
Gypsy, or Roma, people
• Gypsy people have been discriminated against in
Europe for centuries. Like Jews, homosexuals, and
socialists they were hunted down and killed by Nazis in
WW2
• They are traditionally wanderers, travelling across
Europe in their caravans, setting up on common areas,
annoying the local people with their different customs,
beliefs and lifestyles
• One of the points of contact between the host culture
and the gypsies was music – which they were paid to
play at weddings, funerals, birthdays, and other public
events
Some musical influences
Gypsy musicians
Flamenco
Gypsy jazz sounds like…
• “Minor Swing” played by contemporary
musicians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6uXGST
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• Listen to Django here
...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoIJ4W
7kXiQ
Amazing Fact
• Django Reinhardt lost his 3rd and 4th fingers off
his left hand in a fire when he was 18. His
amazing speed and dexterity comes from a 2
finger technique.
Selmer
Maccaferri
Taking Gypsy jazz apart - musically
• Hot Club line-up – solo guitar, rhythm guitar(s), violin,
double bass
• There’s an emphasis on improvising (guitar, violin solos)
• The repertoire was popular songs from the 20s and 30s,
the Blues, and original songs
• Improvising soloists use arpeggios, extended chords,
chord substitutions, scales - minor (gypsy, harmonic),
blues
• Rhythms - range from fast to ballad, mainly in 4/4.
Rhythm guitar style – “Le Pompe” (Boom Chick, Boom
Chick, Boom Chick, Boom Chick)
Taking Gypsy jazz apart
• Django used many gtr devices - rakes, glissandos,
tremolos, pedal notes. Grappelli used glissandos,
vibrato and rapid string crossings
• There are limited tone colours because of the
instrumentation (strings only).
• The timbre is light, tempos range from very fast
to ballads (although these are played up in
tempo), and the dynamics are light – due to the
acoustic properties of the instruments
• Songs are often in guitar keys (C, Am, Dm, G, E)
rather than saxophone keys (Bb, F, Eb, Cm)
Finally
• Gypsy jazz is fun to listen to and to dance to
• It is enjoyed and played by musicians and
listeners both young and old
• There are Hot Club festivals around the world,
where people get together and jam to the
gypsy jazz repertoire