La pompe with even downstrokes and no upstrokes sounds amazing as a rhythm variation!

spatzo · December 2018

Here's a good exemple of swinging straight four:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rR-HlHiSC-s

Jazzaferri · December 2018

good one @spatzo

IMO both pompe and flat four need to be changed up within a song otherwise the feel gets a bit too samely.

S@nderV · December 2018

Jazzaferri wrote: »

good one @spatzo

IMO both pompe and flat four need to be changed up within a song otherwise the feel gets a bit too samely.

Interesting point you make. To my knowledge la pompe rarely gets changed up in GJ. I've heard Django do it (in his pre-drums days). But in trio's nowadays I rarely hear it. My non gypsy jazz friends find la pompe archaic sounding and slightly boring. I do like it. And with two guitars and another solist comping is possible to change up.

The guitar player in the clip spatzo posted is Martijn van Iterson btw.

MartinG · December 2018

Sure ! La pompe can sound great with downstrokes only, that's more and more how I like to play it. Listen to this recording of Daphné (great pompe, very straight, amazing Django solo) :

SDNW · December 2018

Thanks for all the examples guys. Totally agree, @Jazzaferri. When a song has gone on for a long time, you can really breath a new life into the song by temporarily switching to a shuffle or flat-four rhythm to keep the listeners interested. Great trick as long as you don't do it too much and only when it makes sense.

A lot of people seem to hate la pompe without the upstroke, but I really like it depending on the song. Obviously on some songs like Coquette, Honeysuckle Rose, or J'attendrai it probably wouldn't sound right if you omitted the upstroke. However, I think leaving it out on certain songs like Songe D'automne or Swing 42 can really suite the tune. Guess it comes down to personal preference ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jazzaferri · December 2018

IMO let the song lead the way. Some songs I use the pompe as the main rhythm and change it up bit in the bridge or part of the bridge. Some I use a long short long short swing rhythm and change in the last bar or two of an A or B section Etc Etc ETc.

The melody of the tune drives. As a soloist gets further away from the melody I will keep the rhythm simpler with fewer or no changes unless we are really in the zone and having a real conversation.