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Swinging Projects for Lindy Hop & Balboa Dancers

Gypsy Jazz

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #70: Minor Swing

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Yes, it's long overdue, a Song of the Week by Jean “Django” Reinhardt (23.01.1910-16.05.1953), the first and probably still the most influencial European jazz musician.

Django Reinhardt was born into a french speaking gypsy – so-called Manouche – family and grew up near Paris.

He learned violin, banjo and the guitar very early and at the age of twelve or thirteen (depends on the source), he already was a professional musician.

In 1928 Django was heavily injured in a fire of his caravan. His right leg was paralysed and his left hand was badly burned. The doctors wanted to amputate his leg but Django refused.

During the rehabilitation time of 18 months he was given a guitar by his brother Joseph and he developed a total new fingering style with only two fingers!

The legendary The Quintet of the Hot Club of France was born in 1934 after Django met Stéphane Grappelli. It was one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of string instruments.

The small record company Ultraphone recorded their first sides Dinah, Tiger Rag, Oh Lady be Good, and I Saw Stars which caused a sensation. The band went on to record hundreds of record side.

The Quintet broke at the beginning of World War II. Django recorded troughout the war years and after the war, he was rejoined by Stéphane and they again performed and recorded.

In 1951 Django retired, in 1953 he suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died.

Django Reinhardt couldn't read and write notes, nevertheless he composed many songs which became jazz standards.

One of it is the often covered tune Minor Swing, representing the typical sound of Gypsy Swing by Django Reinhardt and his fellows.

DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #70: Minor Swing by Django Reinhardt

Title: Minor Swing
Artist: Django Reinhardt with The Quintet of the Hot Club of France
Recorded: 25.11.1937
Tempo: 204 bpm
Dance: Balboa, Lindy Hop

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ･ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the “Song of the Week” series? Share your thoughts below.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #57: Duke & Dukie

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I'm at The Experiment right now and I have a full week of intense balboa dancing in front of me. That's reason enough to dedicate this song of the week to this dance I adore.

Recently I realised that I haven't featured a gypsy jazz tune so far, so here it is – by one of the best combos nowadays: The Rosenberg Trio.

The Rosenberg Trio is a family affair and consists of three cousins: Nonnie at double-bass, Nous'che at rhythm guitar and Stochelo at lead guitar.

None of these guys know how to read and write music, they just learned it as children by ear and played the same tunes again and again and again.

Violinist Stéphane Grappelli (who used to play with Django Reinhardt) was so amazed by the trio that he invited them immediately to play with him after hearing and seeing them the first time.

The rest is history, he took them worldwide, across Europe and to celebrate his 85th birthday New York's Carnegie Hall.

For the album “Roots” the Rosenberg Trio invited the dutch clarinetist Bernard Berkhout to play along on some tunes. Duke & Dukie is my favourite track from that album.

Listen to this pumping rhythm, created only by two musicians, it is amazing.

Both soloists, Stochelo at guitar and Bernard at clarinet play their instrument with so much feeling and rich in variations. I love this song and spin it therefore quite often!

The Rosenberg Trio - Duke and Dukie

Title: Duke & Dukie
Artist: The Rosenberg Trio with Bernard Berkhout
Released: 2007
Tempo: 198 bpm
Dance: Balboa

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ･ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the “Song of the Week” series? Share your thoughts below.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #28: Besame Mucho

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Recently, I was DJ'ing in a location in Zurich called “Besame Mucho”. It reminded me of a song by Oscar Alemán and I decided to choose this song as our Song of the Week.

Oscar Alemán (20.02.1909-10.10.1980) was a wonderful jazz guitarist and one of the great unknown talents in jazz. He began playing guitar as a teenager in Argentina and during the 1930's he was living in Spain and Paris.

He was a regular member of Freddy Taylor's Swing Men From Harlem and he appeared on records with Bill Coleman, Danny Polo, Eddie Brunner, Freddie Taylor and others.

He also was the leader on eight selections he recorded during his three European sessions of 1938-1939.

His style was very similiar to Django Reinhardt's Gypsy Jazz and unfortunately, Alemán was overshadowed by Rheinhardt.

1941 he moved back to Argentina where he continued to record and perform with both a swing quintet, as well as with a nine-piece orchestra.

He spent much of the rest of his career in Argentina, remaining well known only in his native country.

Besame Mucho was recorded 1943 in Buenos Aires. The tune starts very unspectacularly but when the singing begins, it becomes very funny, almost cheesy. It's another great tune for Balboa dancing in a medium tempo (for Balboa dancers…).

Title: Besame Mucho
Artist: Oscar Aleman Y Su Quinteto De Swing
Recorded: 07.09.1943
Tempo: 190 bpm
Dance: Balboa

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ･ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the “Song of the Week” series? Share your thoughts below.

Now Check Out: