Eddie Lang Club — DjangoBooks Forum

Joshl-m archtop build

DjangoBooks — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 20:00:13 +0000

This discussion was created from comments split from: Tool for enhancing your recordings.

Tool for enhancing your recordings

Joshl-m — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 23:49:48 +0000

Hi Everyone,

it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. But, I really thought this was worth sharing. I’ve really been listening to a lot more Eddie Lang recently and I found something that might be able to help shed light on some of his accompaniment with vocalists.

I have been digging into the song “Guilty” by Gus Khan and found a version by Ruth Etting with, I am almost positive, Lang on guitar.

However, the vocals are front and centre and it makes it quite difficult to hear the guitar.

Enter: a free AI tool to remove vocals. I found this site that kind of advertises itself as a tool to make your own Karaoke songs.

anyways, tried it and it really worked. I uploaded the song file, the vocals were gone. I could hear the guitar so much more clearly.

I have included the two files here. Hopefully they work. I haven’t tried it with any other songs but it could be useful

heres the link for the site:.

https://voice.ai/tools/vocal-remover

Ruth Etting - Guilty 1931 Gus Kahn.mp3

Ruth Etting - Guilty 1931 Gus Kahn-instrumental.mp3

When did Eddie Lang switch from the L4 to the L5?

L50EF15 — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 23:11:44 +0000

‘Lo all. I asked this question over on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, and someone posited that Lang might have alternated between the two depending on the session. Listening to his work with Venuti, it sounds like the L4; more bass, less cutting tone.

Then there are things like The Blue Guitars sessions with Lonnie Johnson, or pieces like April Kisses that sound like the L5; you can hear how it cuts and projects.

Anybody have any ideas on this question?

Eddy Davis - The Manhattan Ministrel

voondracula — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 12:09:44 +0000

Eddie Davis passed away, and I think we must do something to honor him.

His contribution to the banjo world is essential.

I was thinking, of digitizing his whole Youtube library.

Can somebody help?

Thanks

I'll Never Be the Same - Eddie Lang meets Django!

Julien — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 13:23:04 +0000

Hi all,

I am happy to share this version of "I'll Never Be the Same" in the style of Eddie Lang and Django.

https://youtu.be/TjzoWNX3Y48

We hope you'll enjoy!

Best

Snoozer Quinn

TonyRees — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:11:29 +0000

If Eddie Lang was "the swing era's other great guitar virtuoso", maybe Snoozer was "the swing era's other other great guitar virtuoso" - what do folk think? Sounded like Lang a lot on some snippets in the 20s, later kinda like a more heavily swinging George Van Eps with shades of Lonnie Johnson and Oscar Aleman - tragically under-recorded but his last sessions are a masterpiece! More info recently (last 10 years or so) researched and collated by Kathryn D. (Katy) Hobgood Ray, a distant relative, see https://snoozerquinn.com/ ... his last (hospital bed) recordings collated (with 5 non Snoozer tracks added) as "Snoozer Quinn With Johnny Wiggs & Johnny Wiggs Big Five – The Magic Of Snoozer Quinn" (mostly a reissue of 1969's "The Legendary Snoozer Quinn", recorded 1949) and can be listened to via Spotify (some tracks also replicated on youtube, audio only). Plus there is even video footage of him from 1932 but with no sound - available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHPViwpHz4M . Thoughts, comments, interest all welcome!

Venuti and Lang's Philadelphia: a guided tour

Lango-Django — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:55:18 +0000

SOME BACKGROUND:

It was September 1994, and my dream had come true: I was gigging with a jazz violinist.

Our Niagara-based duo played pop tunes and jazz standards, but above all, the music of our heroes Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, as well as Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli.

Best of all, there were even occasional gigs in which we would augment our duo with a jazz pianist and bass sax player and play the glorious music of the Venuti-Lang Blue Four!

My violinist partner was an expat Scotsman named Bill Murphy, aka “Murph”. Born in Glasgow in 1930, Murph began his studies of classical violin at an early age, but his world was forever changed once he heard Stephane Grappelli play on BBC radio, and he devoted most of his life to playing that style of music, first mastering that light-as-a-souffle Grappelli sound and then later the more volcanic stylings of Joe Venuti… and of course, other favourites such as Stuff Smith and Eddie South along the way.

Bill was not only a musical force to be reckoned with, but also one of those proverbial “well-balanced Scotsmen--- with an equal chip on each shoulder”.

Sadly, after doing a couple of cruise ship gigs which involved intense 24-hour togetherness, Murph and I parted ways in the late nineties.

We had very little contact for the rest of his life, until his passing on July 20, 2017 at age 87.

******************************

But going back to 1994: my daughter Olivia was in high school, and she befriended a girl who was newly arrived from Philadelphia.

On one of my trips to pick up Olivia from her friend’s house, I got talking to her parents, and mentioned that Philadelphia held a special place in my heart because two of my jazz heroes had grown up there.

Unsurprisingly, they had never heard of Venuti or Lang.

But surprisingly, a few months later, they called me to say that they had been visiting Philly and happened to see an article in the weekend Inquirer which they had saved for me.

The article was all about Eddie Lang and featured quotations from his two surviving relatives who still lived in the Philadelphia area: Lang’s nephews Tom and Eddie Massaro, who were sons of Lang’s older brother Tom Massaro.

It only took one call to “information” to find a phone number for the Massaro brothers and arrange a visit to South Philly for a guided tour of all of Eddie and Joe’s old stomping grounds.

******************************

Flash forward to March 2018: Murph’s widow calls me up unexpectedly to tell me that in going through all his old belongings, she came across a bunch of old photos, and perhaps I might want them?

Hallelujah!

It turned out that among the stuff was the photo record of our Pilgrimage to Philadelphia, which I had thought to have been long lost over the years, was found!

So now I am going to share it with you, and hopefully, with posterity.

The internet was made for this!

*******************

Murph and I were well aware that our September, 1994, pilgrimage to Philadelphia would be the trip of a lifetime, so we made sure we had a couple of cameras that worked and we also rented a video recorder.

Unfortunately, the video recorder’s battery failed almost immediately, so we had to abandon it in the trunk of our car.

But we did manage to get some fairly good snapshots during the tour, which will be seen in the postings below.

We also wrote copious notes on each photo, including the addresses of all the sites we visited, and these will also be included for fellow Venuti-Lang fans who may want to make their own pilgrimages.

Sincerely,

Will aka “Lango-Django”

PS I haven’t made any effort to find out if Tom and Eddie Massaro are still alive.

They were born in the late 20’s / early 30’s, so it would be kind of surprising…

If anybody in the Philadelphia area has any good news about that, it would be great if they could share it.

Below: Murph and me, sometime in the 1990's.

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Love" Alex Pangman with Jeff Healey

Lango-Django — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 14:47:55 +0000

They played this 2001 cut on the jazz station this morning and it brought back happy memories

This is my old buddy and fellow Lang & Louis & Bix & Bing fan Jeff Healey accompanying the wonderful Alex Pangman's vocal

https://alexpangman.bandcamp.com/track/give-me-liberty-or-give-me-love

If you love Eddie Lang even a little, I predict that you will really enjoy this...

And if you only know Jeff Healey as a rock guitar wizard, then you are in for a big surprise!

Will

Eddie Lang Challenge 2022... closes on June 15

Lango-Django — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 21:57:28 +0000

This year's Eddie Lang challenge is a bit different, and I hope you like it.

It's the same El Cheapo prize as last year, a $100 gift certificate at djangobooks.com... sorry!

****

Using the acoustic guitar style of Lang/Reinhardt/Aleman, your job is to accompany a singer.

There are two recordings of singers to choose from. You can also choose to enter using both if you wish...

A) Our Hamburg friend WILLIE singing the 1931 classic "Just a Gigolo" along with a click track.

B) My wife PAMELA singing the 1929 classic "It Had to be You" along with a click track.

***

Both recordings begin with four bars of empty space for your guitar intro.

Both recordings leave space for your guitar solo in the middle.

Your job is to record your guitar and then send me your track/s which I will attach to the vocal track while deleting the click track.

I will post the lovely results here so that forum members can vote for their favourite... most votes wins!

*****

I am attaching mp3 recordings for both songs, plus sheet music which you are free to use or disregard as you feel appropriate.

All entries must be submitted prior to JUNE 15, 2022!

Good luck!

Will

It had to be you VOC + CLICK TRACK.mp3

It Had to be You.png

Just a Gigolo Willie Jakob w click track.mp3

Just a Gigolo w. verse.png

"Reaching for the Moon"--- echoes of Eddie Lang

Lango-Django — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:22:30 +0000

Sometimes my wife and I watch "Call the Midwife" together.

Really clears out the ol' tear ducts, amirite?

Anyway... last night's episode featured some background music with guitar that... well, as soon as you'll hear it you'll know exactly who it was!

Except for one slight detail... this recording was made twenty-five years after the premature passing of Lang the Father in 1933...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvjEC7fEcEI

More googling about this matter resulted in some very interesting background info about Irving Berlin's 1930 song "Reaching for the Moon"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaching_for_the_Moon_%28song%29

To me, everything I've read about the song leads me to the conclusion that Berlin wrote the song with Crosby and Lang in mind. It's just like the kind of stuff Bing recorded a lot of in the early thirties... for connoisseurs of the Crosby-Lang recordings, it may remind you of sad tunes like "Here Lies Love" or "Street of Dreams"...

Anyway... I do tend to drone on, don't I?

SO I JUST WANT TO WISH ALL MY ON-LINE PALS.... A VERY MERRY FESTIVUS!

(THE HOLIDAY-FOR-THE-REST-OF-US! THE 'AIRING OF THE GRIEVANCES', COMING SOON!)

Will

PS The genius of this guitar player is how he does so little, and yet somehow it just sounds so rich. That's exactly what I wish I could do.

I'm going to sit down with this baby and get it note for note.

Feel free to join the fun, Lang lovers!

PPS And hey--- all you jazz detectives out there--- WHO IS PLAYING THAT GUITAR?

PPPS And also: who is playing that @#$% travesty of a cheesy violin?

It's an insult to Joe Venuti...!

Or as one of my guitar buddies put it last month when we were still allowed out...

"It's like getting a Yoko Ono bonus track."

String Longevity and Sound

Chiefbigeasy — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 20:46:54 +0000

This has probably been touched on here and there throughout the forum, but I want to get specific.

I was talked into using Argentines on my grande bouche Dupont and am finding they are starting to sound a little plonky, honky, and dead after a short while. Is this the standard experience with them? I used to string up with Fisomas in both silvered and silk and steel, and they seemed--to my ear--to last longer as far as sounding pretty full bodied. My hands are particularly dirty or sweaty, so I don't think it's string buildup. I'm talking about a timeframe of at least a month or two. It seemed that the Fisomas lasted several months longer before I felt the need to change them.

Canadian duo tribute to Venuti/Lang's "Black and Blue Bottom"

Lango-Django — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 01:30:03 +0000

I first met my friend "Canada's Sweetheart of Swing" Alex Pangman when she was sixteen and just getting into 20's and 30's jazz.

Alex's devotion to the archaic style which I love has now blossomed for several decades, and it makes her unique among Canadian jazz singers.

In this April 3, 2021 livestream performance she is joined by Drew Jurecka, violin, and Nathan Hiltz, guitar... and all three of them are pretty damn wonderful!

The whole concert is great, but if you want to skip ahead to Drew and Nathan's version of "Black and Blue Bottom", it begins at 46:41.

If you are a Venuti fan, wait till you get a load of Drew wrapping the horsehairs around his fiddle to play in the seldom-seen "four string Joe" style... !

Will

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IILaDhO4UBU

And the winner of the 2021 EDDIE LANG CHALLENGE is...

Lango-Django — Wed, 19 May 2021 18:15:40 +0000

.........................................drum roll...................................

........VIC WONG!

Congratulations to Vic!

I just e-mailed Vic the code to redeem his $100 djangobooks.com gift certificate.

Vic has agreed to answer a few questions about himself and his music, and I plan to post them once I receive his responses.

*************************

They used to have an expression in Montreal about arthouse cinema films (remember those? now gone the way of the dodo!)

... anyway, these films were said to be watched by "happyfew" audiences...

... so thanks to all my "happyfew" online friends at djangobooks.com who got on board with this idea.

I may never meet most of you in real life, but I appreciate your friendship, even if it is a long-distance relationship!

Will

Take the Eddie Lang challenge!

Lango-Django — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 09:05:08 +0000

OK, campers it’s been too quiet around here for a while now.

Maybe it’s because everyone’s avoiding me ever since in a previous thread I revealed many salacious details about my guitar-o-sexual leanings and then went on to call my fellow posters “my fellow wankers”, who knows?

Anyway, t’was all in good fun... as I hope shall be the next activity for my fellow, um, campers...

IT’S THE EDDIE LANG CHALLENGE! WITH GIANT HUNDRED DOLLAR PRIZE!

YAY!

Here’s how it works!

You start by choosing your Nom de Plume, because entries will be judged by your peers here at Djangobook.com and we don’t want your popluarity here, or lack thereof in certain cases, be a factor.

(And please, DO NOT choose an obvious clanger like “Serbian Savant” ! We are going for anoymity here!)

OK! Now that you’ve done that, remember how Eddie always had those brilliant connecting runs that he would play between chords... as well exemplified by his legendary performance on the 1927 Bix Beiderbecke - Frankie Trumbauer side, “Singin’ the Blues”... take a listen...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2X1HGvF4Ss

or better still, the wonderful recording by the many of the same musicians, the immortal “I’m Comin’ Virginia”...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW7YYt0F-K4

... this may well be a prehistoric area for a lot of guys who play GJ but hey, Eddie Lang’s brilliant contribution to American jazz is a history which all of us American players can be proud of.

So now that you are suitably inspired by Eddie’s example, here is the challenge.

You are going to take these two chords: Am and D7 (which BTW includes any flavour of A minor chord and any flavour of D7 dominant chord)

And clever little person that you are, you are going make up a clever little connector run...(like preferably one bar or two... please no more!)

... a connector run which would make Eddie Lang’s spirit, as well as the entire DB gang, say “Who da fuck was THAT?”

And then you are gonna record it.

And then you are going to PM me with your email address so we can arrange for you to email me your recording...

And to preserve your anonymity, I will post your little recording here on this thread using your Nom de Plume.

That everybody can hear it and then click the “LIKE” button if they choose.

And then together we will try to figure out who won... and the winner gets the glory, plus a hundred dollar gift certificate from Djangobooks.com!

(NOTE: The cash prize replaces the previously mentioned trophy which is just too much @#$% bother!)

If this thing flies, we can do this every year!

(If it’s a big flop, then we’ll just quietly forget about it, OK?)

so, what do you say, campers!

Are you in?

Do ya wanna have some FUN...?

Will

5 am

insomnia

EDDIE LANG CHALLENGE: contest entries dedicated thread...

Lango-Django — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 15:41:55 +0000

Our first submission!

It is by “Bing’s ENT?...Run!!!!”...

This is in WAV form, hope it works for everyone... let me know if you encounter problems...

1- Bing ENT.wav

It was fifty years ago today, when I first heard Eddie Lang...

Lango-Django — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 13:49:03 +0000

At age 19, I moved to from Akron, Ohio to Toronto, Canada out of fervent opposition to the Vietnam War.

Big city Toronto was exciting, but it turned out to be a lonely town at first. However, somewhere along the line I met Roger M., a fellow American war resister and music lover, who invited me to a Boxing Day "blues party" at his place ... this would have been on Dec. 26, 1970.

When I arrived at Roger's place way out east in suburban Oshawa, it turned out that this party was a very small one, comprised of just Roger, me, and two other young musicians who would go on later to form a western swing band called "Prairie Oyster", very popular in Canada in the 70's/80's. Dennis Delorme on banjo (pedal steel guitar with Prairie Oyster) and a good fiddler whose name I can only remember as "Zeke"...

Our host Roger was a record collector, so every now and then we would stop jamming and listen to some of his vintage 78's.

Roger was particularly proud of a recent side he had picked up, "Blue Room Blues", a 1929 guitar duet by two players I'd never before heard of, Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang... and here was the very record he played:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2bwIscUA_o

Lang solos first, and almost immediately the music falters because of Lonnie Johnson's limited abilities as a rhythm guitarist...

... but about 50 seconds in, Lonnie switches to lead guitar and Eddie to rhythm...

... and the heavens part and glorious sunbeams appear...!!!

... and I've been an Eddie Lang fan from that day to this one...

For me, it was love at first hearing and my heartfelt love for Eddie Lang's wonderful playing has not dimmed over the years...

Enjoy!

Happy Boxing Day!

Will

Damn! How did I miss the 2016 Eddie Lang mural in Philadelphia?

Lango-Django — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 02:48:48 +0000

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154651672688615.1073741870.115559118614&type=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChUBwW40c4o

April Kisses on 1934 Gibson L5

Romain Vuillemin — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 07:37:34 +0000

Hey guys

i'm happy to share with you the Acoustic Standards #38, Eddie Lang's "April Kisses" played on my 16 inches 1934 Gibson L5 ! A pure Joy !

Don't hesitate to subscribe if you like what you see/hear !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cflZ1y8GIq8

Excellent Lang biography, part two

Lango-Django — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 16:18:53 +0000

http://www.vjm.biz/168-eddie-lang-part-two-web.pdf

Through the magic of the internet I am able to attach the two recordings discussed in the article which Lang recorded in London in 1925.

While I fully agree with the author, Nick Dellow, that these are actual Lang recordings, I am open to dissenting opinions!

Two interesting things about these recordings:

1) According to the photographs in the article, Lang was at that time playing some kind of smaller guitar than the Gibson L-4 and L-5's which came to bear his signature sound.

2) Apparently the Brits were quite impressed by Lang's string bending, which they'd never heard before... so Eddie kind of goes overboard with the string bending on these recordings!

Will

PS Tomorrow we're off on a Caribbean jazz cruise which includes one of my heros, Bucky Pizzarelli.

Internet access on cruise ships is generally pretty iffy, so please pardon me if I drop out of sight for a couple of weeks!

Walkin' My Baby Back Home

Lango-Django — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:53:29 +0000

I'm very proud of this recent live recording of my band, "Dr. Jazz & the Jazzbugs".

Not for my guitar solo, which is pretty ordinary, but for what unexpectedly happens around the 2:50 mark... the guitar and horn somehow lock into a daffy little riff which neither of us could have possibly planned or even explained to each other in advance.

This mysterious subconscious quality is one of the things I really love about jazz... it's magic, but you can't make it happen, you just have to allow it to happen.

My dream is that someday that wonderful musical genius Tcha Limburger will bring his violin and clarinet and sit in with our band, because I have a sneaking suspicion that he likes to play these great old twenties tunes as much as we do...

Walkin' My Baby....mp3

Will

Sutton Mutton

cbwim — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:31:04 +0000

Am looking for any written transcription of "Sutton Mutton" as played by Eddie Lang.

There is one I found online at leyoy.free.fr/Suton/sutton.pdf but its in a strange key with 5 flats and a strange clef with C being the bottom line and D being the top. My copy of Finale can't handle the scanning and conversion without me having to do a whole bunch of editing. The tab is also worthless as it requires this tuning: Bb F C G A D

I am looking for one written in he normal clef and tab with normal tuning!

Just found this 2018 article about Lang today...

Lango-Django — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 00:52:54 +0000

Nice overview, but mostly familiar stuff to longtime Lang fans...

https://jazzguitartoday.com/2018/12/paving-the-way-eddie-lang/

Eddie Lang Day in Philadelphia Oct. 21, 2018

cavemusic — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 18:47:18 +0000

I just learned about this event - 8th annual tribute to Eddie Lang:

https://www.facebook.com/events/175108499987181/?ti=icl
https://philly.carpe-diem.events/calendar/6835609-eddie-lang-day-philadelphia-2018-at-the-kimmel-center-for-the-performing-arts/

Has anybody attended this? It sounds great but I’m not anywhere close.

New Lang Videos!!!!

[Deleted User] — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 17:06:31 +0000

At about 40 seconds in you can see Eddie walk out with his guitar. And at about 2 minutes you can see him with his back turned by the window. Also just great footage of that famous Bix photo. Enjoy!

Here it is!

Here's another of Lang playing that famous Gibson L-4 with the Dorsey Brothers. Tony Parenti's home videos. Just Great stuff.

Aside from those you can see Lang with Ruth Etting doing Without That Man in A Regular Trouper here.

With Bing and Lennie Hayton on piano in The Big Broadcast of 1930 doing Dinah and Please.

And Lastly one of my favorites in Paul Whitemans King of Jazz film. Lang and Venuti are all over it. Here's the whole film. Its worth a watch.

Anyways, hope you all enjoy the videos. Til next time.

-Nico

"I'm in the Market For You"

Lango-Django — Tue, 01 May 2018 00:04:47 +0000

During the 1980's in Toronto, I was lucky enough to become a friend of the late great Jeff Healey, who died of cancer in the early 2000's.

For those of you who only know Jeff as a rock guitarist, let me assure you that he was one hell of a jazz guitarist, too! Plus, he was a great guy with a wonderful sense of humour.

Jeff and I were both Eddie Lang fans, and I wish I could find the mix tape cassette which he once made for me composed entirely of obscure Lang sides from his huge collection of 78's.

One of my favourites on that long lost tape was a silly tune called "I'm in the Market for You", apparently written in response to the stock market crash of 1929. This recording featured the songwriter, whose name I can no longer recall, singing, accompanied by himself on piano and Eddie Lang on guitar.

I've always liked this song ever since, because it reminds me of both Eddie Lang and Jeff Healey.

So here it is, 'I'm in the Market for You" from a recent live performance by my band, Dr. Jazz and the Jazzbugs, in Buffalo, NY. Brian Bauer, vocal and clarinet/saxes, Ed Woods, bass, and me on guitar and banjo.

Will

Recording a rendition of “Wild Cat”

bopster — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:05:16 +0000

Fiddler Roger Netherton and guitarist Paul Davis take on Wild Cat.

Eddie Lang's a little love, a little kiss.....played by Brett Comeaux

pickitjohn — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 14:04:03 +0000

Great Job on one of My Favorite Tunes...

"A Kiss To Build A Dream On"

Lango-Django — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 19:15:09 +0000

Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays, everyone!

I'm attaching an MP3 sound file of a tune recently played by my band at our Sunday night gig in Buffalo, NY, which I'm actually kind of proud of... a good old Louis Armstrong tune... please pardon my singing!

I am particularly proud of the fact that this was the first time our band had ever played this number, and the clarinet player didn't know the middle eight, so he threw it back to me... and lo and behold, i didn't @#$% it up!

Miracles happen every day!

Will

A Little Love A Little Kiss Matt Munisteri

pickitjohn — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 22:46:00 +0000

Came across this Youtube Video

be sure to start at the beginning for some reason when I clicked play it started after the song

Check out 0:31 to about 3:31

What a Treat

Visiting Amsterdam Tue Apr 11 to Mon Apr 17

Lango-Django — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 16:19:58 +0000

Hello,

Just a shout out to Dutch GJ fans: I'd love to know the whereabouts of any clubs in Amsterdam that feature GJ.

I believe English guitar ace Robin Nolan lives there now?

And I'd be especially thrilled if there were a venue where I could go see my guitar hero Rino van Hooijdonk play!

Thanks,

Will Wilson