You'll find several standards of the GJ repertoire, but more importantly you'll hear a different feel from the mandolin than you'll generally get from the GJ guitar player. Not to contradict Jim Gallaher, but as for
Seriously, this is my biggest complaint about the folks that come to Gypsy Jazz from a non-jazz background, that they often sound like they are playing with an accent, and as great as BG music is, it is NOT the right flavor for jazz styles including GJ. Most mandolin I've heard in GJ, including Grisman, sounds a tad like it has a Bluegrass accent rather than a jazz accent - thus my suggestions to dig up guys like Angelo DeBarre as a model rather than Grisman. Sure you need to play some "pompe" rhythm behind other players, but the real meat is in the melodic playing, and the guitar and violin players are the best source for learning. I say the following as a working Gypsy Jazz guitarist that also plays mandolin, thus my advice for mandolinists takes a different perspective.įrom my most recent gig with Gypsy Swing Club:įrankly I'd suggest not paying too much attention to the mandolinists playing Gypsy jazz and listen to guitar and violin players, besides they are the real original GJ instruments and determine the style. It's a handy resource on the edge of a jam when the tune is unfamiliar. It's been a lot harder to find living, breathing human beings but I just came back from music camp and there was a lot of interest in GJ among the swing mandolin students.įor the standards that often show up in GJ but aren't in the aforementioned fakebooks, I use iReal Pro, an app that provides chord charts (no melodies) and playback with the ability to change keys, rhythms, instruments, tempo, etc. Once you're up to speed on the chords (get those major 6ths, minor 6's, 6/9's going), Youtube has plenty of play-along opportunities. Can't leave him/her hangin' out there on a limb! Of course, if it's only a few instruments, you'll have to "la pompe" for the other guy's solo. GJ relies on the guitar's "la pompe" rhythm for its driving swing sound and the "stabbing" chord style is a good complement. I had some classes with Don Stiernberg this past week and he refers to this as "stabbing" - injecting the higher register of the mandolin chords, usually with upstrokes, into the band's overall rhythmic feel.
I use these charts all the time.įor a good example of using the mandolin in a Gypsy Jazz context, I recommend Stephane Wrembel's "Gypsy Rumble" CD, which features David Grisman. Scott posted some useful fakebook links in this Cafe blog post () on June 8, 2015.
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