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Louis Armstrong influence on Django
DoubleWhisky
Upper FranconiaNew Vit Cach, Dupont MD60, 1940s Castelluccia
Hi,
i transcribed Louis Armstrongs solo on Dinah live in Copenhagen 1933 on guitar and of course i knew about the huge influence he had on Django but wow, this really opened my eyes regarding that influence horns might had on another level.
So many "Djangoisms" do make so much sense regarding how he possibly came up with them to me now. F.e. the fast chromatic runs, the heavy vibrato, the tremolo picked single note lines. Yes, maybe not the only single factor but i'm convinced it was a huge one.
Maybe now i see what was completly obvious to you guys but maybe it's interesting for some though haha
and 1 other.
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I've been convinced of this for quite a while. Especially Django's earliest recording.
Wow that's awesome, thx for sharing!! It's kinda crazy, so much so I had to watch 3x lol. Great tone too man!!
Excellent
It has been said many times and we do know that Django loved indeed Armstrong but personaly I am not convinced at all when I hear that Django was heavily influenced by Armstrong.
Listening to Django playing Dinah in 1934 I guess you can hear so much more than a mere cover made by Django in 1934 one year after Armstrong's recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6ZiCI4zh5Y&t=78s
He might have been influenced in Toulon in 1930 but Django had his own wings. I do not recognize at all Django in what you are playing on the guitar.
Thanks anyway for your post
I don't think it's about the lines played. I think the point here is making a guess that Django was hearing cool and expressive sounds coming from different instruments, that are sort of native to the instrument, trumpet in this case, thinking to himself something like "man, does that sound cool, how can I play something with similar effect" and then figuring out new and inventive ways to replicate them on the guitar.
Like the glissandos across the fretboard to land on a target note, wailing on one note and I certainly hear the kind of space between the phrases that Django was a master of. I think a lot of his genius comes from similar, cross instruments assimilations. Extremely clever and creative ways to adopt a guitar to play sounds that haven't been heard on it before.
I completely agree Marc.
youtube.com/user/TheTeddyDupont
Yes exactly!! Thank you Buco, that's what I tried to say.
I don't think we need to argue that Django is completely unique and not in any form a mere "cover" or copy, i'm very sorry if my post came along that way.
But this transcription made me realise even more the high possibility that at least some of the signature guitar moves do have their origin by "translating" horn lines on guitar.
And although this was not meant to be about the lines itself there are definitely some signature Django phrases hiding in there.
I think that playing single note solos on jazz guitars is basically inspired by horn lines.
I liked your video and presentation. Sometimes these discoveries can be very personal and not everyone can relate to the connections you are making. I personally think that's OK. I've made connections that seem to work well for me and tried to explain or show them only to find the other person not getting it or seeing it. I personally love that kind of thing.
Or violin lines. Or accordion lines. Or slide whistle lines. (Remember who Django was playing banjo with before the fire.)
I suspect what Django heard in Armstrong was the rhythmic/phrasing freedom of American jazz, which is quite different from the squarish feel of musette. (And it's interesting what happened to musette waltzes once jazz had fully penetrated European ears.) And as crucial as Armstrong was to transforming jazz, there was also the duo and quartet work of Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti--a bit squarish compared to Louis, but still clearly jazzier than '20s musette.