and Play Along CD - Volume Four
THE
SONGS 1. I'll See
You in My Dreams 2.
Tears 3. Melodie
Au Crepuscule 4. Night and
Day 5.
Anouman 6. What is
This Thing Called Love 7. Sweet
Chorus 8. Limehouse
Blues 9.
J'attendrai 10.
Icelandic Folk Song 11. Exactly
Like You
Book 4
In Book 4 we are continuing our series with another diverse selection of Gypsy Jazz standards and several of Django's most celebrated compositions. We have included the 1937 QHCF version of "I'll See You In My Dreams" which is considered to be one of the masters finest recordings and "Anouman", perhaps the most profound of all his ballads and one of Django's final compositions."J'attendrie " is also included due to it's absolutely charming lilt, beautiful melody, unusual form and the fact that it reemerged as the song in the recently found studio footage of the QHCF.
Also, in response to many requests, we have included several examples (both in diagram and audio form) of the various rhythm styles played at very slow, easy tempos. From the basic "gypsy swing rhythm" to the more advanced techniques of playing "rhythm triplet's" and the even tougher "Django shuffle" we guide you step by step in the further development of your skills.
As with many of the songs in the QHCF/Django repertoire, there is a lot of confusion regarding the right and wrong changes. This generally means that although the song maybe very familiar, it ends up not being played that often. A lot of the amazing tunes in book 4 have suffered that fate. The tragedy of this is that quite often these fantastic songs get left out of the jam sessions and gigs and people end up playing "Minor Swing" just one more time.
"I'll See You in my Dreams" is a classic example of this. Bars 25, 26, 27 and 28 seem to be a kind of universal "black hole". Everybody seems to play the harmony differently and each time this section of the tune rolls around gypsy jazz musicians musically look the other way. The same can be said for sections of "Limehouse Blues," "Melodie Au Crepescule" and even "Night and Day."
This could not go on. Something had to be done !
We have also included a song that we learnt during one of our many concert / workshop trips to Iceland. This song swings really hard and has a classic gypsy flavor to it similar to that of the immortal Dark Eyes. It has been an amazing experience to a discover a folk song from another culture that sounds so "Django".
REVIEWS - RNTB4
Steve Royall <hotclub.co.uk>
"They have become an icon in the Gypsy Jazz community and are now the required reading for anyone playing in the style."
Gary Entsminger ,...............(email customer)
"The new book is a lovely piece of work. Lovely melodies and interesting, subtle techniques, especially the bends and double stops."