[Dixielandjazz] Django and the electric guitar

[Stephen G Barbone]

> "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com> wrote
> 
> I don?t know if my system can take this shock. I never knew Django played an electric guitar. 
> 
> Why didn?t somebody tell me so I didn?t have to find out this way?  
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QATIHWbN-sM

Dear Bob:


Django did indeed play electric guitar. Of course he had to visit the USA and learn from the originators since European jazz was still looking backward . <grin> See below from one of his biographers:
"At the end of the war recordings from the USA started to filter through to Europe and in 1946 Django at last went to America and heard the developments of the "new" jazz firsthand. It was here that Django played an electric guitar for the first time. Listening to the few tracks recorded with Duke Ellington it sounds as though Django has also got hold of a good amp for the day. He has that uniquely big tone, but very little of the distortion which is characteristic of his early attempts to record with electric guitar. Many such recordings appeared during 1947, the result of poor amplification and Django's naturally aggressive acoustic technique. Ironically this sound has become accepted in Django circles, and some players go out of their way to specifically imitate this sound.?"

"Between 1946 and 1949 Django's recordings alternated between electric guitar and acoustic guitar, but his overall musical style continued to evolve. Many of his compositions of this time - such as Diminishing Blackness or Micro - reflect the growing influence of Be-Bop. In fact the middle 8 to Moppin' the Bride could have been written by Charlie Parker himself!"


BTW, most of Django recordings during his last 5 years were either on electric, or amplified acoustic guitar. There is a fairly substantial difference between his styles of playing acoustic vs. electric or amplified. And a difference in style PERIOD, after he visited the USA in 1946.

Suggest interested folks listen to his Anouman circa 1953 to hear the difference. I suspect most listeners in a  blindfold test would not identify this as Django.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5amrwUH6fA

or hear his "I cover the Waterfront" Paris 1953.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOmSJoCrfSc
 
Cheers
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband