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Musical Romani Outer Space

February 21, 2025 1 Comment

That’s Paganini, re-imagined for Gypsy Jazz improvisations. Paganini was famous for being able to blaze away on the fiddle, but I wonder how much of an edge he’d have over that guy.

I tried to sort out the players, but my United Nations Thinker Upper blew a gasket pretty quick. A Romanian from Sao Paolo. A British guy from Nashville. Musicians are just truly traveling troupes again, n’est-ce pas? Where you’re from doesn’t register so much anymore. It’s where you end up. These guys end up in musical Romani outer space.

Go With God and Waffles

July 21, 2024 5 Comments

I know why the Rolling Stones named themselves the Rolling Stones. I know why the Beatles called themselves the Beatles. But I have no idea why the most popular musical act in the history of Belgium named themselves Go With God in Spanish. I don’t know why Danielle Schoovaerts is wearing a dress adorned with the pull tabs from beer cans. I don’t know why a band from Brussels is singing in English. I don’t know how big a hole Dani’s hairspray put in the ozone layer, but I’ll bet it’s big. But at any rate, I’ll take gypsy jazz, no matter how much you fold, spindle, or mutilate it, wherever I can find it.

Plenty of Firepower

July 14, 2024 2 Comments

That’s Rocky Gresset on the left, and Adrian Moignard on the right. They have a sort of friendly contest ongoing to see who can blast out Gypsy Jazz faster and more musically than the other. It’s always a tie, though they each have their own style.

“Cherokee” is a jazz standard from way back in the 1930s, by Ray Noble. It blasts through a series of different keys, and the third of four parts of the tune were considered too challenging by many soloists, so the song was often avoided, except by guys who could really play. Like these guys.

Tag: gypsy jazz

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sippicancottage

A Man Who Has Nothing In Particular To Recommend Him Discusses All Sorts of Subjects at Random as Though He Knew Everything.

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