The Jazz Guitar Blog

Jimi Hendrix

2011-06-23T08:16:00.001-07:00

2-Year Old Playing Guitar Amazingly Well…

2011-06-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

We've had a 13-year old that plays bass like Jaco Pastorius and a 9-year old that improvises over Stella by Starlight, but this beats everything: now there's a 2-year old playing guitar! Have a look at this toddler playing along with a Black Keys tape, freaky!

Luckily for us and the freaky baby this is fake, it’s a commercial for a new video game called “Rocksmith”. The game play is like Guitar Hero, but this game lets you plug any guitar into a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 so you don’t have to use a toy guitar.

What do you think about games like this?

Great Django Reinhardt Documentary

2011-06-10T07:14:00.001-07:00

Have a look at this great Django Reinhardt documentary, great music and footage!

There are 5 parts:

Part 1: general introduction, his life as a child, introduction to guitar in jazz, Django’s early career, the accident, …

Part 2: Louis Armstrong, Django’s encounter with Stephane Grappelli, the first quintet, the first record deal, …

Part 3: Success, jamming with Coleman Hawkins, lifestyle changes, recording Minor Swing, the war, …

Part 4: end of the war and reunification with Stephane Grappelli, the States and Duke Ellington, the electric guitar, the composer, Nuages, …

Part 5: the painter, his death, farewell performance with Django’s brother Joseph.

A Moving Documentary About Jimmy Rosenberg

2011-05-16T03:39:00.001-07:00

“Jimmy Rosenberg – The Father, The Son & The Talent” is a beautiful and moving documentary about gypsy jazz guitarist Jimmy Rosenberg.

He started playing guitar when he was very young, at the age of 12 he played with people like Stephane Grapelli, Les Paul and George Benson.

A couple of years later heroine came into the picture and that’s when a long fight with himself and his addiction began. The documentary is about this fight…

This is a must-watch, too bad it’s in Dutch and without subtitles…

Here you go:

http://www.documentairenet.nl/review/jimmy-rosenberg-de-vader-de-zoon-het-talent/

The Results of Guitar Education in North Korea

2011-05-02T05:28:00.001-07:00

Cute and all and their timing ain’t too bad either. I wonder what kind of childhood they have though, they must have been practicing a lot… These smiles don’t seem to be very genuine either, little robots.

Serge Gainsbourg Plays Jazz

2011-03-03T02:13:00.001-08:00

I know Serge Gainsbourg as a pop star, but apparently he started his career playing jazz. His jazz album is called Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin (Jazz in the Ravine) and is not bad.

Here’s a video I found on Youtube. It’s not from this album, but a recording from 1964, broadcasted on Belgium television. Serge Gainsbourg is on the piano in a trio with guitar and bass, playing All The Things You Are. Serge plays the theme and a chorus of improvisation, while Elek Bacsik plays four-to-the-bar accompaniment (which disturbes the piano chords a lot of times).

Serge Bacsik is actually a cousin of Django Reinhardt. He is from Romani descent, but worked and lived in the US (he played in Las Vegas a lot).

The Power of the Pentatonic Scale

2011-02-02T02:43:00.001-08:00

The great Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale:

Related Lesson:

Did you know you can do a lot more with the pentatonic scale than the obvious bluesy things you usually do with it? Discover more here: Uses of the Pentatonic Scale in Jazz

Bossa Nova Classic: The Trooper (Iron Maiden)

2011-02-01T07:54:00.001-08:00

Iron Maiden is a bossa nova band from London, formed in 1975. They contributed a number of songs to the standard jazz repertoire, including this classic, The Trooper:

Related guitar lesson:

How to Play Bossa Nova Guitar...

A Short History of Modern African-American Music

2011-01-17T07:38:00.001-08:00

I don't really agree, but it's funny nonetheless :)

Pat Metheny Interview (In His Underwear :)

2010-12-07T01:24:00.001-08:00

Here’s an interview with Pat Metheny somewhere in the late 80s. He talks about the start of his career.

Btw, he’s not actually doing the interview in his underwear, but in his jogging pants, Pat Metheny was an avid runner at that time :)

2 quotes:

“I was the worst guy in the band, which is the best position to be in…”

“Playing guitar didn’t come easy to me at all and it still doesn’t…”

Visit these links for more Pat Metheny:

Women in Jazz: Hiromi Uehara

2010-12-06T05:18:00.001-08:00

I don’t often post about piano players on this blog, but this one caught my attention. Hiromi Uehara is from Japan and she is great.

Check her out:

And a video of her trio:

Women in Jazz: Emily Remler Plays Tenor Madness

2010-11-18T09:17:00.001-08:00

Here’s a great version of Tenor Madness, played by Emily Remler. Emily was an American Jazz Guitarist who died much too soon in 1990 (at the age of 32).

She plays a great improvisation here, although it’s not a secret she listened to Wes Montgomery a lot. I’ll blame her dress on the 80s :)

The video:

There’s more Emily Remler here:

An Emily Remler lick.
How to Play Bebop on Guitar.
An excerpt of her Latin instructional video.
A concert video together with John Abercrombie.
A great Emily Remler tribute website with a lot of transcriptions.

Finally, here’s a great interview with Emily:

Musicians!? Who You Gonna Call?

2010-10-25T11:49:00.001-07:00

The woman in this video deals with a special kind of infestation. If she’s not careful it’ll take over her house. Luckily there’s help…

The New Jaco Pastorius, 13 Years Old [Video]

2010-10-19T00:55:00.001-07:00

Looks like this blog is more and more about children playing music than about jazz guitar, but anyway, here’s another boy that just got out of his diapers and is already playing better than most of us :)

Meet Pipoquinha, he’s 13 and playing bass guitar…

Btw, if you're looking for the sheet music, here it is: The Chicken - Jaco Pastorius

And here’s another video:

What do you think is the reason that nowadays children seem to advance so fast? The internet?

Amazing Musician: Raul Midón [Video]

2010-10-12T04:56:00.001-07:00

Raúl Midón is an blind American singer and guitarist from New Mexico. He uses his voice and a distinctive way of playing guitar to create a one-man performance. This video is his debut on television, playing his song State of Mind. Make sure to check out the vocal trumpet solo, it’s amazing!

Sonny Rollins Promoting Guitar [Video]

2010-10-08T06:01:00.001-07:00

An interview with Sonny Rollins in which he explains why he prefers a guitar in his band instead of piano.

9-year Old Plays Jazz Guitar Amazingly Well [Video: Stella by Starlight & Blues]

2010-09-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

Last week we had a 12-year old boy who is amazingly good at playing jazz guitar. This week we have a 9-year old boy who is amazingly good at playing jazz guitar as well. Meet Lucchy (Lucciano Pizzichini), playing the theme and improvising over Stella by Starlight:

Related Lesson: Stella by Starlight

And here, Lucchy is playing a blues from Joe Pass’ Virtuoso album:

Related Lesson: Joe Pass Licks

Amazing 12-year Old Jazz Guitar Player [Video]

2010-09-20T01:50:00.001-07:00

Meet Andreas Varady, a 12 years old jazz guitarist who plays amazingly well. Andreas, 12 years old and living in Ireland, was born in Slovakia in an Hungarian gypsy family.

He started playing guitar when he was 4 years old, inspired by Django Reinhardt. Later he got influenced by classic jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and George Benson. Andreas plays by ear and got guitar lessons from his fathar Bandi.

It's not hard to see that this kid is an incredibly gifted and talented musician and guitarist. It's amazing to see that a 12-year old kid can have such a developed sense of musicality.

Watch this video of Andreas improvising over a jazz blues and be amazed:

I wonder how many adult guitar players have quit after hearing Andreas play...

Here's another video: Andreas playing Giant steps:

Stevie Wonder Drum Solo [Rare Video]

2010-07-21T13:33:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the plentitude of non-guitar related videos lately, but here’s a great video of Stevie Wonder playing the drums.

Check it out:

Oscar Peterson Lesson [Video]

2010-07-08T10:37:00.001-07:00

Here’s an interesting video. Oscar Peterson talks and plays like some of his influences.

I rarely see this kind of knowledge in a guitarist, or am I wrong?

The Amazing Jazz Whistler Ron McCroby [Video]

2010-06-09T14:09:00.001-07:00

Ron McCroby, the guy in this video, is pretty amazing. He’s the Jazz Whistler…

Interesting Website: Interactive Music Charts

2010-06-03T01:04:00.001-07:00

Here’s an intersting website I just discovered, it’s called The Next Big Sound. It allows you to type artists or bands and lets you compare their popularity.

Here’s Pat Metheny vs. John Scofield vs. Joe Pass vs. Django Reinhardt. Who do you think is the most popular today?

http://www.nextbigsound.com/nbs#plays,month,6612,22486,83542,29352/Pat+Metheny+Group/John+Scofield/Joe+Pass/Django+Reinhardt/

Crazy Drummer Again… [Video]

2010-05-27T04:34:00.001-07:00

What’s wrong with drummers? :-)

Pat Martino Video Lesson: Minors Over Dominant #5 Chords

2010-05-12T07:17:00.002-07:00

In this video lesson, Pat Martino shows 4 different minors over a dominant #5 chord.

Over A7#5 he uses:

Em7: sounds like 5 b7 9 11
Bbm7: sounds like b9 3 #5 7
Gm7: sounds like b7 b9 11 #5
Dbm7: sounds like 3 5 7 #9

Dbm7 seems like a strange substitution, why would you want to play a natural 7 on a dominant chord?

John Scofield Talks Modes

2010-05-03T23:54:00.001-07:00

In this video a young John Scofield talks about improvisation and the modes. Nothing new here, but nice to watch nonetheless.

Improvisation = Speeded Up Composition

Although the video quality is bad, you can’t help notice how good his sound is.