Boulou Ferre is simultaneously the most authentic and eclectic guitarist playing within the Gypsy jazz genre today. Authentic because he grew up within the epicenter of the tradition: He’s half Gypsy, his father was Matelo Ferret, he was born and raised in Paris, and he was schooled in the traditional Gypsy guitar technique and music from an early age. Eclectic because he mastered bebop before his teens, studied classical guitar at a conservatory, and has come to embrace musical influences as diverse as Lenny Tristano, Bach, and Arnold Schoenberg. Boulou has it all. Deep, deep roots in a traditional from of music as well as full understanding of the most complex forms of art music.

For those interested in studying Boulou’s style, see my Unaccompanied Django Book. Gypsy Etude #2 is a transcription of Boulou’s Baroque style exploration of Django’s Improvisation #3

Those of us lucky to see Boulou’s performances at the Djangofest NW witnessed just how powerful this man’s music is. These performances surely have earned him new found respect among guitarists in North America. For those of you looking for more of Boulou’s music you’ll find that there are about half a dozen commercial recordings available from the late 1970s on. My personal favorites are: Gypsy Dreams and Pour Django. However, Boulou’s recording career began much earlier when he was a child. The following recording was made sometime in the 1960s when Boulou was a child. Notice his impressive command of bebop vocabulary, his ability to sing everything he plays, and complete lack of Django influences.

MP3: Bluesette

Click Here for more info or to buy: Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend

This month’s lesson is one of the numerous Gypsy chordal devices you’ll find in the Pearl Django Play-along Songbook and Unaccompanied Django.

This chordal sequence (min, min/maj7, min7, min6) is commonly known as a minor “line cliche.” This progression is usually voiced so that there is a descending chromatic line starting from the tonic moving down to the minor 6 (i.e. in D minor the line goes D, C#, C, B). This device was used regularly by Django and has become even more common among contemporary Gypsy jazz guitarists. See my transcriptions of Improvisation #1, J’Attendrai, Just Relax, and Gypsy Etude #3 to see how Django and other Gypsies use major and minor line cliches to create harmonic movement.

This example of a line cliche places the chromatic line in the top voice. Its a great way to make a minor chord more interesting. Especially when you have to sit on one chord for 2 bars or more. In the audio example I play the line cliche twice: First time as written and then the second time I play a common rhythmic variation. This particular line cliche is commonly used by Dutch Gypsies such as Stochelo Rosenberg, Jimmy Rosenberg, Paulus Schafer, and Martin Limberger.

Audio Example

This lesson is the first of a two part series which explains the scales and arpeggio choices Django used while improvising. This lesson demonstrates how Django used the “Major 6/9 Sound” and “Minor 6 Sound” in his solos. 9 notated and MP3 audio examples are included. 6 of these are musical ideas transcribed from Django and other Gypsy guitarists. 5 pages of text .

For more info or to download go to: Lessons Online

This lesson is the second of a two part series which explains the scales and arpeggio choices Django used while improvising. This lesson demonstrates how Django used the “Dominant 13 Sound” and “Dominant b9 Sound” in his solos. 8 notated and MP3 audio examples are included. 5 of these are musical ideas transcribed from Django and other Gypsy guitarists. 5 pages of text.

For more info or to download go to: Lessons Online