Maurice Ferret - Hommage A Django Reinhardt [1970]

Maurice Gros Chien Ferre was born in Rouen, France around 1930. Little is known of his life. He and his partner Joseph Babagne Pouville began playing at the Clarion de Chasseur around 1960, and they played at this Montmartre cafe for 37 more years. Maurice Ferre has a totally unique style of playing. Though he usually used a Favino guitar, his approach was more like an electric player. 
He used the Stimer pickup and Fender twin-reverb amp to their best advantage. His repertoire numbered in the many hundreds of tunes. 
Much of the duo’s unusual sound came from Joseph’s unorthodox rhythm playing – rather than the traditional pompe, his chords had a rolling feel and he used a Gibson ES-125 instead of the usual Selmer type guitar. His harmonies were often as unusual as his rhythms. They made two LPs, and sadly neither is in re-release yet. The first of these “Le Train Gitane” is an outrageous collection of originals and popular tunes, all marked with great exuberance and droll humor. The second is a collection of tunes associated with Django. Hopefully these will soon be available for the world to hear again. Joseph Pouville passed away a few years ago, but Maurice is still living in Paris. After a few years off, he is out playing occasionally with Max Robin. It seems he is finally receiving the credit he deserves for his contributions to the Paris guitar legacy. 

                                                                              Enjoy!

 

Vaya Con Dios - Vaya Con Dios [1988] & Night Owls [1990]

  World-class group centered around the personality of singer Dani Klein, a fantastic woman who had previously developed a career as a backing vocalist for many Belgian groups.

    The story of Vaya Con Dios (a Spanish phrase which means "go with god") started in 1986. The group was formed by Dani Klein, Dirk Schoufs and Willy Lambregt . Their first release, the single "Just a friend of mine" characterizes the group with its love for Spanish-influenced music and acoustic instruments. It becomes an overnight hit (300.000 sold copies in France) and their career is on the way.

    Willy decides to spend all his time with the Scabs (Vaya Con Dios wasn't "rock'n'roll" enough) and the first full album is recorded with session musicians. The singles "Puerto Rico" and "Don't cry for Louie" open even more doors for the group.

    The second album continues the success story (with hits like the melancholic "What's a woman" and the joyous European hit "Nah neh nah"). The influence of Spanish flamenco shifts to "old American jukebox hits although with unmistakable influences from gypsy music and French chanson" .

                                                Enjoy!      Vaya Con Dios

                                                                                      &

                                               Enjoy!      Night Owls

Fishtank Ensemble - Super Raoul [2005]

Gypsy flamenco frenzy! A blend of up-tempo traditional and original music — Romanian, Roma, klezmer, flamenco and Japanese — with a contemporary twist. From the smokey cafes of Bucharest to the Gypsy caravans of yesterday, this CD evokes the spirit of a past age and the sounds of tomorrow. 7-piece orchestra with vocals, 2 violins, saw, accordion, shamisen, flamenco guitar, double base and percussion. A unique musical experience--and a rollicking good time!

Enjoy!

The Swing Shoes - Ladies & Gents, Here's The Swing Shoes [2010]

The Swing Shoes were formed in Athens in 2006. Initially a street guitar duo, they evolved into a four-piece, with the standard swing quartet instrumentation: two guitars, bass and violin. Gypsy swing - or jazz manouche, as it is called in France, its birthplace - is a musical idiom that originated in the 1930’s and owes its
international popularity to Django Reinhardt, the man who single-handedly defined its style - even down to the way the chords are played on the guitar - due to an injury that left him unable to use two fingers in his left hand. The standard major or minor chords were replaced by major 6ths and minor 6ths, and modified chords.
Another particular element of jazz manouche is the distinctive rhythm guitar strumming technique known as la pompe (the pump), which gives a continuous rhythmic drive.

The Swing Shoes fully respect the rules of this folk idiom, while consciously omitting any kind of Hollywood glamour linked with swing. Their faces reflect the purity, the honesty and courage of their folk heroes: Django Reinhardt, Markos Vamvakaris, Karagiozis, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Manolis Hiotis, etc.
But although they faithfully adhere to the traditional gypsy swing conventions, the Swing Shoes are also part of a special breed of musicians that manage to sound innovative, due to their choice of seemingly unlikely cover tunes from the Greek popular and folk songbook, like Karagouna or Then Se Thelo Pia, which are
often re-interpreted in an unpredicted manner on the CD you are holding. If you happen to catch them live, you may find that sometimes the violin glissandos can swiftly transport you from a pre-war Paris street corner to contemporary Ikaria or Smirni. That’s how music stands on its own two feet, wears its shoes and moves on.

Enjoy! 

The Dead Brothers - Wunderkammer [2006]

The fourth album by Germany's the Dead Brothers is an eclectic, at times slightly crazed, mash-up of country, psychobilly, blues, fractured art rock, and anything else that seems to come to mind. So in the album's first three songs alone, things veer from the spooky, echoed, funereal slide guitar instrumental "Trust in Me" to an assaultive, bluesy raver that sounds like the Mekons in their country period to a completely unexpected piece of big-band Gypsy jazz that sounds like it came right off the stage of the Hot Club of Paris circa 1930. Then comes the cross-culturally inexplicable "I Can't Get Enough," which sort of sounds like it might be a catchy little country-tinged song, but there's an oompah-band tuba holding down the bass and a jazzy little horn section floating in every so often. "Mustapha" turns vaguely Middle Eastern tropes into a surprisingly Kinks-like piece of character-study pop; "Am I to Be the One" and "Time Has Gone" do the same things with country and Gypsy music, respectively, and "Marlene" is a just plain weird reverie for backwards tapes, accordion, and vocals that comes from the bottom of a well. So Wunderkammer is a sprawling, at times deeply strange record that reaches across several different musical cultures and eras to create an odd but effective crazy quilt of influences. Remarkably, all of this coheres into a solidly enjoyable listen. 

Enjoy!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Americana Deluxe [1998]

For their major-label debut, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy don't change their tune at all, which is a good thing. Like their two indie releases, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a rollicking set of big-band swing, performed with energy and tongue-in-cheek. The group runs through a number of standards and originals, and while their ironic humor may irritate purists, their vigorous, exciting performances make the album a delight. 

 Enjoy!

Oscar Aleman - Swing Guitar Masterpieces 1938-1957

 Oscar Marcelo Alemán (February 20, 1909 – October 14, 1980) was an Argentine jazz guitarist.He was a singer, dancer, entertainer, and guitarist.

In the 1930s, having discovered American Jazz , Alemán moved to Paris where he was hired by Josephine Baker to lead her band, the Baker Boys at the Cafe de Paris. This provided him an opportunity to play regularly with American Jazz musicians who would come to see Josephine and sit in with her band.

 Alemán later formed his own nine-piece band which would play nightly at the Le Chantilly, just across town from where Django Reinhardt and his partner violinist Stephane Grappelli would be performing at The Hot Club of France with their Quintet. Although these two geniuses of the guitar never recorded together, they became close friends.

 Again as a solo act, he toured Europe, playing with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington.

 The Nazi invasion of France during World War II forced him to return to Argentina. He continued playing there with his hit Rosa madreselva, and continued to record and perform with both a swing quintet, as well as with a nine-piece orchestra.

He continued to teach and perform in his native country until his death in 1980 at 71 years of age.

 

Alemán generally played with thumb pick and fingers. He compares his style and technique to Django Reinhardt's:

"I knew Django Reinhardt well. He used to say jazz was gipsy - we often argued over that. I agree with many Americans I met in France who said he played very well but with too many gipsy tricks. He had very good technique for both hands, or rather one hand and a pick, because he always played with a pick. Not me, I play with my fingers. There are things you can't do with a pick - you can't strike the treble with two fingers and play something else on the bass string. - But I admired him and he was my friend. He was my greatest friend in France. We played together many times, just for ourselves. I used to go to his wagon, where he lived. I've slept and eaten there - and also played! He had three or four guitars. Django never asked anyone to go to his wagon, but he made an exception with me. I appreciated him, and I believe the feeling was mutual".

According to Jorge Larsen "Although he kept playing Latin music up to the end, he never jazzed it, but was always very careful to maintain each genre's authenticity."

Critic Leonard Feather wrote "Alemán has more swing than any other guitarist on the continent", and "His tone, phrasing, swing, and attack are so grand that if anyone ever mentions Django Reinhardt to me again, I shall stare coldly."

Alemán was best known for playing the D-hole Selmer Maccaferri (also played by Django Reinhardt). He also used a National Style 1 tri-cone resonator guitar, nylon string guitars and archtop guitars.

Enjoy! 

CD1 & CD2

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Perennial Favorites [1998]

 To mainstream audiences, Squirrel Nut Zippers' out-of-left-field rise in popularity (on the strength of "Hell," their 1997 alterna-pop hit) marked the beginning of the new swing movement's commercial breakthrough. Yet as PERRENIAL FAVORITES proves, the Zippers' diversity of styles evokes more than mere zoot suits and jump-blues shouters. Imagine, instead, a stew made of hot jazz, western swing and ethnic folk musics like klezmer, polka and tango--as well as brass-driven boogie--which seamlessly reflects the cross-cultural melting pot that early 20th century America aspired to be. A race-barrier-less utopia of sound.

Featured in this revue are: Jim Mathus, who plays the Al Jolson-esque part of comedic vocalist and MC, Katherine Whalen, who stars as both Bessie Smith and Josephine Baker, a female singer straddling the line between the glee of cabaret-like pop and the melancholy of 78 rpm urban blues, and Andrew Bird, whose violin evokes both ancient Jewish melodies and the lonesome sounds of Appalachia. Songs like "Ghost of Stephen Foster" and "Trou Macaq" are filled with references to ragtime, "Camptown Races" and many other touchstones of early 20th century American popular culture, updating these images from oldies to perennials. And naturally, PERENNIAL FAVORITES swings like a kool-kitty demon on a ballroom floor.

Squirrel Nut Zippers: Jim Mathus (vocals, guitar, banjo, tenor saxophone, trombone, piano, percussion); Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo); Tom Maxwell (vocals, guitar, clarinet, tenor & baritone saxophone, gong); Ken Mosher (guitar, alto & baritone saxophone, Fender Rhodes, cymbal, background vocals); Je Windenhouse (trumpet, coronet, background vocals); Stuart Cole (bass); Chris Phillips (drums, steel drum, percussion, background vocals).

Additional personnel: Steve Watson (pedal steel guitar); Andrew Bird (violin, piano, percussion, background vocals); Emily Laurance (harp); Rick Lassiter, Don Raleigh (bass)

 

Enjoy!