Pigalle

Stackabones · May 2007

Listening to Django in Rome today and put the repeat on "Pigalle." Lovely waltz. Any other recordings of Django playing this? Any other notable recordings of it? How many waltzes did Django record?

I haven't transcribed this yet. Did a quick search and haven't found any grilles or info--Georges Ulmer, the composer, appears in searches.

Whaddya know?

Barengero · May 2007

"Pigalle" is the first track on Paul Pata´s record "Paris … toujours Paris".

Best regards,

Barengero

MichaelHorowitz · May 2007

There's been an ongoing debate over who's playing on the mysterious recording of [i]Choti[/i]. It's often attributed to Baro Ferret, but many believe it's Django.

You listen to it here:

Pour Que Ma Vie Demeure"
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Integrale
Django Vol.20 (1953)

Pour
Que Ma Vie Demeure

Very cool waltz!

brandoneon · May 2007

Stackabones wrote:

I haven't transcribed this yet. Did a quick search and haven't found any grilles or info--Georges Ulmer, the composer, appears in searches.

Whaddya know?

I have this score. It's a pretty standard tune, found in many French chanson books. Send me a PM if you're interested in a copy.

cheers,
Brandon

Teddy Dupont · May 2007

Stackabones wrote:

Listening to Django in Rome today and put the repeat on "Pigalle." Lovely waltz. Any other recordings of Django playing this?

No and note how he gives it a totally non-gypsy jazz treatment. There is no indication that Django had any interest in the waltz after his early musette days.

As Michael says, the "Choti" recording is sometimes attributed to him as well as Baro Ferret and, according to Integrale Vol 20, Sarane Ferret. But we will never know for sure.

Stackabones · May 2007

brandoneon wrote:

I have this score. It's a pretty standard tune, found in many French chanson books. Send me a PM if you're interested in a copy.

PM sent! 8)

kimmo · May 2007

Teddy Dupont wrote:

There is no indication that Django had any interest in the waltz after his early musette days.

There's plenty of indication for the opposite. Django turned every waltz he recorded with a jazz group into 4/4: Dark Eyes, Anniversary Song, Songe d'Automne... Pigalle is the only one, in which he maintained the 3/3-meter. And even that seems to me to be more of a joke (like Peanuts Vendor) to prevent boredom in Rome, where he was playing for the last time all the old material with Grappelli.

Teddy Dupont · May 2007

kimmo wrote:

Teddy Dupont wrote:

There is no indication that Django had any interest in the waltz after his early musette days.

......... Django turned every waltz he recorded with a jazz group into 4/4: Dark Eyes, Anniversary Song, Songe d'Automne

Agreed. What perhaps I should have said is that he had no interest in playing a waltz as a waltz. To him, these were presumably just melodies he liked that happened to be waltz time but he had no desire to play them in that time signature. I do not believe Django had any interest at all in the waltz rhythm after his early days. If he had, he would have recorded them as such and more often. However, he did seem to like other rhythms sufficiently to occasionally record and even compose in.

kimmo wrote:

... Pigalle is the only one, in which he maintained the 3/3-meter. And even that seems to me to be more of a joke

Agreed. It is the only official recording he made in waltz time once he became interested in jazz. I also agree it is played more as a joke than a serious performance which is something that is perhaps rather significant.

The fact that the waltz is part of the gypsy jazz repertoire is much more a result of the Ferret influence than anything Django did.