Gypsy jazz on the mando

**Buddah** · Jul-23-2008, 5:16pm

More and more, I've been really getting into gypsy jazz stuff (Django, Grapelli, Aleman, etc.). #I know that the Dawg has a pretty good catalog of he and his band playing this style of music, but are there any other bands out there that are playing in this style that feature the mandolin?

**delsbrother** · Jul-23-2008, 5:20pm

Harmonius Wail and Hot Club Sandwich come to mind. Josh Pinkham and Jamie Masefield have also played in this style, though I wouldn't call them "Hot Club" players.

**Woody Turner** · Jul-23-2008, 5:51pm

One of the top jazz mandolin ensembles is Will Patton's. Will lives and plays in northern Vermont but also performs widely, in New York, Paris, Grenada, and the western U.S. Besides being a great player, he's a superb arranger and composer. Also, a real nice guy. His daughter, Anna, often plays in his band, and he in hers. Will has a diverse background, including many years sitting in at sessions with Django channelers like Ninine Garcia, as well as stints with Ray Charles, Mose Allison, John McLaughlin, and Bonnie Raitt.

The latest contribution to the Cafe's MP3 pages is Will's. For a more gypsiesque tune, check out Rue de Rosiers in the Jazz section of the MP3 pages. You'll also find plenty of gypsy sound on his finely crafted albums, described on his Web site (www.wpatton.com).

**Brandon Flynn** · Jul-23-2008, 6:06pm

Gypsy jazz is awesome on the madolin. I'm really starting to get into it myself. I need to get some recordings ASAP.

**delsbrother** · Jul-23-2008, 7:12pm

MMQ

**jmcgann** · Jul-23-2008, 10:18pm

I have a few inexpensive lessons on the style, as well as Django and Stephane transcriptions for mandolin, with sound files here.

**Woody Turner** · Jul-23-2008, 10:30pm

Nice to see you back on the board, John.

**Buddah** · Jul-23-2008, 10:37pm

Thank you so much for the heads up on Will Patton...just purchased the "String Theory" mp3 album off of Amazon. #Awesome! #Just what I had in mind. #
I would also urge anybody interested in this style to buy John McGann's lessons at djangobooks.com. #Way too cheap for all the info that he packs into 'em. #
I'd never heard of Mike Marshall's MMQ before. #They also put out some pretty cool stuff! #Thanks guys. #Bryn

P.S. #How cool would it be if Don Stiernberg put out a recording of gypsy jazz-style stuff (hint, hint).

**Eric Hanson** · Jul-23-2008, 10:55pm

I'll second the vote for Harmonious Wail.
Sims Delaney-Pottoff is such a great player. The band is great together also. Very upbeat; high energy. They play a number of older jazz tunes along with the D'jango tunes and such. A wonderful blend of music that avoids being the same sound over and over.
Not only that, his wife can sing amazingly well.
Great folks to talk with after the show too.
Here's the link to their site. http://www.wail.com/

Eric

**ald** · Jul-24-2008, 4:43am

I would actually like to see Don Stiernberg get away from the American standards and gypsy jazz for a while and issue a recording of European standards (Brel, Brassens, Piaf), perhaps a bit like Birelli/Luc on the Duet recording - Les Amoureux des Bancs Publics - as I think he could add some of his inimitable magic to those tunes, from an American perspective.

I thought his Home Cooking album was excellent, and I was really pleased to see he had returned to singing. This injects a spot of variety into the recording and demonstrates the talents of someone who is a real master of vocals plus mandolin. It would be interesting to hear what he could do with just mandolin and voice.

**SternART** · Jul-24-2008, 9:25am

Bryn........Mike Marshall started the MMQ, but hasn't been a member for many years.
Chris Thile took the first mandolin chair for a short stint when Radim Zenkl was on
mandocello......then they carried on with Matt Flinner on the more recent recording
& performances. Looks like Flinner in the above video on the right with Dana Rath on
the left. I believe the current lineup is Matt Flinner, Dana Rath, Paul Binkley on mandola
and guitar, & Adam Roszkiewicz on mandocello.

**John Hill** · Jul-24-2008, 9:28am

The 'cello sounded pretty cool in that clip. Acquisition Syndrome starting to kick in...

**Buddah** · Jul-24-2008, 9:40am

Cool, I'll definitely have to check out some Harmonious Wail. For whatever reason, I've always thought that they were just another hippy jam band (nothing wrong with that, of course; just not my cup of tea).
Thanks for the MMQ info Art...doesn't sound like the quality of their lineup has dropped off much over the years!

**Rick Jones** · Jul-24-2008, 9:56pm

Another vote for Sims and Harmonious Wail. Great folks, great music - and most definitely NOT 'another hippy jam band'. All their stuff is good, but if you're after full-blown Gypsy-style, probably the 'Gypsy Swing' CD is what you're after.

**Geoff B** · Jul-24-2008, 10:47pm

Charlie Provenza is another that comes to mind...

**BlueMountain** · Jul-25-2008, 11:14am

Check out http://www.hotclubsandwich.com/contact.html
Also contact Matt Sircely at matt@hotclubsandwich.com and ask him how you can get hold of a copy of "25 Gypsy Jazz Tunes." It's a great little book, well worth the $25 I paid for it. Good way to learn a nice repertoire of chords, it uses tab, and if you have the Django CDs, it will let you play along. This is the book we used in Matt's Gypsy Jazz jam at the Mandolin Symposium.

**Evan Mahoney** · Jul-26-2008, 5:33pm

who are you guys playing with? just guitar and bass or something? I'm trying to figure out what is the important elements to a gypsy group if i play mandolin

**Mike Snyder** · Jul-26-2008, 6:44pm

Please don't blame us old hippies for the jam band aberration. Most of us play old-timey now.

**Doug Hoople** · Jul-26-2008, 7:20pm

I think it's really interesting that the mandolin is essentially absent from the early history of gypsy jazz. It's such a natural for this music, and there are simply no mandolins in the early mix.

I attended a gypsy jazz workshop with Paul Mehling (Hot Club of San Francisco) a few years ago, mostly guitarists, and he was really buzzed that I showed up with my mandolin. He thought that it would be a paradigm-shifting plus if someone really nailed gypsy jazz on the mandolin. #

Personally, I thought it was kind of him to be addressing such admonitions at me, but there are great mandolin players out there that ARE, in fact, nailing gypsy jazz on the mandolin. #

BTW, I loved the MMQ clip!

And, I really love gypsy jazz on the mandolin. It may be late to the game, but the mandolin belongs in this music!

**Woody Turner** · Jul-26-2008, 8:56pm

"I think it's really interesting that the mandolin is essentially absent from the early history of gypsy jazz..."

Perhaps "essentially," but not totally. According to Michael Dregni's comprehensive biography of Django, the young gypsy learned from Romany players Auguste "Gusti" Malha and Laro Castro, both virtuousi on the banduria, a flat-backed Spanish mandolin. Castro and his brother played in a band featuring "instruments of various timbres, doubling up on the melody lines to create an enchanting multilayer sound highlighted by trills and tremolos." Of course, these were just a few of the zillion influences and instruments--from Auvergnat musette (bagpipe) ensembles to American big bands--that coalesced into what we now call gypsy jazz. It would be many, many decades before the mandolin could claim a rightful place in the mix.

**TomTyrrell** · Jul-27-2008, 8:14am

When I play Gypsy on the mandolin I'm thinking more along the lines of the violin or clarinet than of the guitar. The mandolin cannot really substitute for guitars or bass but there are plenty of opportunities to add to the core.

**BlueMountain** · Jul-28-2008, 4:33pm

One might argue that mandolin chords, played Hot Club style, can sound more like the original Hot Club Selmers or whatever they were playing than can most rosewood Martin guitars.

**Brandon Flynn** · Jul-28-2008, 4:56pm

Wow, didn't check out the MMQ clip before. Excellent! Two mandolins and mandocello playing gypsy jazz? I think that may be as much mandolin as you could get in a gypsy jazz band.

**Evan Mahoney** · Jul-29-2008, 12:20am

Does anyone have the chords to Blue Drag or Daphne?

**woatz** · Jul-29-2008, 2:14am

One of the best Gypsy Mandolin projects in these days can be found by the Trio Vibracao (Duo Vibracao) with Jesper Rübner on mandolin and Oliver Waitze on Gypsy Guitar.
There is a brand new CD release called _ A Jazzy Note _ released on the german label Acoustic Music Records!
Here you can find some Sound files;

www.myspace.com/oliverwaitzeduovibracao[B]

www.acoustic-music.de

www.duovibracao.de