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1938-39 film of Django Reinhardt-Stephane Grappelli

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 11:33 am
by Dennis Smith
Hi, the info is the film was made to promote Django's style of music in Great Britain before a tour in 38 or 39. Django's part start's at about 2:30. Great close up film of him playing. What he could do with just two fingers! Also Grappelli's playing is great.
Dennis

http://youtu.be/_fc3hffDNr8

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 1:54 pm
by Brandin
Thanks, that was great!

GB

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 2:28 pm
by Jon Light
Tres cool. But dammit, looks like I'll need to take up smoking again.

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 3:59 pm
by Bud Angelotti
Thanks for finging this!
At 1:15, the announcer says "In jazz music the execution is more important than the composition"
Hmmm :)

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 5:21 pm
by Mike Neer
The first time I saw this, about 10 years ago, it made me cry. Holy cow, it just happened again....

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 11:07 pm
by Dennis Smith
Hi, glad you guys enjoyed it.

Mike, if you had a time machine how many nights a week would spend at the Hot Club?

Dennis

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 11:21 pm
by Doug Beaumier
Love it. I bought a "Hot Club" LP over 40 years ago after reading about Django in a guitar magazine, and I was blown away when I heard it. Been hooked ever since. I like Grappelli's fluid playing as much, possibly more, than Django's!

Posted: 15 Mar 2013 4:09 am
by Mike Neer
Dennis Smith wrote:Hi, glad you guys enjoyed it.

Mike, if you had a time machine how many nights a week would spend at the Hot Club?

Dennis
I would be trying to get the gig playing rhythm guitar!

Posted: 15 Mar 2013 8:10 am
by Mark Eaton
Amazing. 8)

Posted: 15 Mar 2013 8:18 am
by Andy Volk
Still pure magic. For all the great guitarists who have surpassed him in chops and harmonic knowledge Django's creativity and poetry are STILL unrivaled. I always enjoyed Stephane's violin playing but after I heard Stuff Smith, Grappelli began to sound over-decorated for my taste.

Posted: 15 Mar 2013 8:18 am
by Andy Volk
Still pure magic. For all the great guitarists who have surpassed him in chops and harmonic knowledge Django's creativity and poetry are STILL unrivaled. I always enjoyed Stephane's violin playing but after I heard Stuff Smith, Grappelli began to sound over-decorated for my taste.

Posted: 15 Mar 2013 8:37 am
by Mike Neer
Oscar Aleman is really the only other guitarist from the time who could rival Django. I was in a record store when I was about 19, looking for some more Django records, when the owner of the shop said to me, "If you like Django, you'll like this better." I'm not sure I liked it better, but he had a big impact on me.

This is Russian Lullaby from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Z_UL48zQw

Whispering (solo guitar) from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoykvVCir50

Posted: 16 Mar 2013 5:05 pm
by Chris LeDrew
Mike Neer wrote:Oscar Aleman is really the only other guitarist from the time who could rival Django. I was in a record store when I was about 19, looking for some more Django records, when the owner of the shop said to me, "If you like Django, you'll like this better." I'm not sure I liked it better, but he had a big impact on me.

This is Russian Lullaby from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Z_UL48zQw

Whispering (solo guitar) from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoykvVCir50
Thanks, Mike....what a great find! Just reading up on how he and Django used to jam together in Django's "wagon."

Posted: 17 Mar 2013 5:53 pm
by Dave Biller
I'll never forget the first time I saw this film. It was 1998 and my reaction was very similar to Mike's, completely overcome with emotion. It was an absolute epiphany and it immediately changed everything about how I thought about and played music. I played my guitar for 12 hours that night. I was never the same again and went directly to the woodshed for about 5 years, totally lost in the world of gypsy guitar. The only other time that ever happened was the evening I first sat down at a pedal steel guitar and proceeded to play it until noon the next day. True story.

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 2:59 am
by CrowBear Schmitt
as much as Jazz was considered decadent musik by the nazis, Django was pretty much at the height of his career during the war in occupied Paris
http://www.paulvernonchester.com/DjangoWW2.htm

here's a vid that was posted here a while back on Django's guitbox
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeSo66p7 ... ded#at=111[/b]

Posted: 18 Mar 2013 7:33 am
by Andy Volk
I can highly recommend two terrific books by Django expert Michael Dregni ...

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Violinist of former head of the Berklee college of music has been the keeper of Grappelli's violin case since his death. He recently gave the case to a fellow player and inside was ... Django's scarf. We need the musical version of Jurassic Park!