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Nice....."If your interest in GJ lasts more than 4 hours, please consult Djangobooks.com"
1) I agree with the others who have pointed out that, because this music is both culturally and technically "foreign" to American players, it will always be a niche market. That said, I live most of my life in various niche markets. I don't know who keeps Walmart and the big local grocery stores in business, but they'd crash and burn pretty quickly depending on me. Vive les niches!
2) It's so easy (compared to days gone by) to put out a CD or a line of guitars nowadays that the market is bound to be flooded with certain kinds of merchandise. And I suppose it is. So the retail day-trippers will lose interest. No great loss, so long as there's enough demand to support the committed builders, players, and merchants.
3) There will always be interest in this music because Django himself was so great. The temptation to look deeper and try one's hand at it will always be irresistible for some.
4) We have, at present, almost 30 guitarists (not to mention other instrumentalists) signed up for Django Camp at this year's Django in June. Some are coming from as far away as CA, TX, CO, WA, AZ, OH, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Holland, and Israel...not to mention locals and folks from nearby states. And we have hardly begun to take registrations for weekenders. My point: the folks who want to play this music really want to play this music and their biggest frustration (after having to reprogram their right hands, of course) is that it's hard to connect with others to do it. IMHO, the more we nurture local, regional and national events that bring players together, the more everyone benefits: players, merchants, pompeurs. A guy (or gal) is only going to stay interested in playing along with online rhythm tracks for so long. At some point - as early and often as possible - this music has to be about connecting with others.
Cheers to all,
Andrew
But I think that GJ, although has popular roots (dance music,etc.) is rather a sophisticated music, that, nowadays, that its dance-function is not alive anymore, demands intention and deep passion in order to love it . All things that, in the fast life of today, people does not have. A similar thing happens with classic music, also if in this case the platea of lovers is bigger. Another proof of this is that the GJ listeners are 99% players themselves(at any level), people who want to enjoy expressing themselves playing GJ. The last observation : I think that the GJ situation is different in the various counties.
(not sure to have been clear..) :?
Bye,
Tommaso
Some people come in off the street to see the show, just becase they're compelled by the sound. Others come in for a drink at the pub and stay the whole night because they got wrapped up in the music. The draw isn't because we're amazing players. I figure we're alright, and I like what we do, but I'm convinced there is something about the style itself that creates this pull.
Granted, these aren't the people who are going to sign up for Andrew's Django Camp (bless the hearts of those who do). Sure, some of the guitarists might at some point, but mostly I'm talking about the non-playing public. I think it's important to remember you don't have to play this stuff or be an instrumentalist to like it.
We might be coming to a peak with the hardcore fans. The people who have hungrily consumed every gypsy jazz tutorial and cd that's been released. All the same, there's a large public full of casual (and not so casual) listeners still waiting to be introduced to this stuff.
p.s.
One thing that I think makes a difference to both markets is sameness. There are a lot of albums I haven't bought because I've already got an hours worth of fine recordings of: I'll see you in my dreams, sweet georgia brown, All of me etc. and three hours of minor swing and dark eyes. The same licks over the same tunes is over saturating the market. Patrick Saussois, Romane, and a whole bunch of other guys playing originals and more obscure tunes, are important because they revitalize the genre. The same thing that can be said about tunes should be said about soloing vocabulary, amusingly enough a lot of the same names come up: Saussois, Romane, Raffalli etc.
I've noticed that the non-musicians are pretty cognizant of set lists and repertoire. Keeping that varied seems pretty important.
-One of those other Jacks
My perception is that listeners always enjoy the music and find it quite accessible but players have to put in significant time to perform it. Given the typical enjoyment of the audience listeners, I am not sure why the general public does not seem to seek out recorded GJ music for listening.
I seem to hear GJ music used in ads, etc. more lately so I assumed additional growth. Regarding suppliers and those interested in supporting the music through products and services, I perceive that the available margin pool may be growing (more shoppers to sell products to), however the number of available offerings is far outpacing the margin pool growth rate. I assume there will be a correction/rationalization of the available offerings - by example, how many decent GJ guitar models are available now that are <800$USD vs 5 yrs ago? I do agree that there must be many GJ guitars collecting dust as this music requires a fairly significant commitment to play.
WML,
Pete
After you buy all those, you'll be too broke to buy modern stuff, plus it'll take you years to get through that material... but thank god for it!
Yep - the jingle writers are all over the stuff.
It will always be a niche music and that is part of the charm except to those whose involvement is essentailly commercial. In addition, the current obsession with speed and technical dexterity does nothing to endear it to the wider public and is a limiting factor to further growth.
youtube.com/user/TheTeddyDupont
Like all music that is difficult to play, it is always going to be on the fringes. And because it is primarily string music, it is likely to remain outside the mainstream of jazz as well. Let's face it...horn and keyboard players are snobby about guitars. But staying in the fringes can be good. Does anyone really want a GJ version of Kenny G???!!!
I don't think we can say that it has peaked at all. Alot of guitarists like me who were bored with the same old blues and rock licks have found in this music a place to rethink our approaches to the instrument and fall in love with the guitar all over again. Some will drift away to other things and take a little Django back to whatever else they play, but others will stick around for the music and the challenge. I think this is the most challenging genre of guitar music there is (and I say that as a former classical guitarist) and that challenge alone will keep drawing players in for years to come. The current renaissance may fade somewhat, but there will always be a bedrock level to spawn future spurts of growth, and somewhere a new Django may emerge to take guitar as far beyond the known limits as Django did the first time!
[b]1990s - The Rosenberg Era[/b]: I think it's safe to say that the Rosenberg trio were the first to really make Gypsy jazz commercialy viable. Even though most of their repertoire was the same stuff the 80s virtuosos had been playing (i.e. Raphael Fays, Fappy, etc), they did it faster, slicker, and more consistently. I remember the first time I heard the Rosenberg Trio...I just couldn't believe it was real! So fast, so perfect. Those 90s live shows were high wire acts....amazing they could perform at those tempos with such accuracy and consistency.
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The
Rosenberg Trio
Live
at the North Sea Festival
[b]Late 90s-2001 - The Jimmy Rosenberg Era[/b]: As if the Rosenberg Trio wasn't enough, here comes their cousin who's arguably faster, more soleful, and creative then Stochelo. Jimmy was on his way to becoming the first Gypsy jazz mega star. He had a million dollar contract with Sony and was being heavily promoted in the US on the radio. I remember many of my girlfriend's friends, who had no real interest in jazz or guitar, had his [i]Sinti[/i] CD. He was going mainstream. But personal problems sidetracked his career, and he's still struggling to this day.
Jimmy
Rosenberg
Portrait
Of
[b]2001-2005 - The Bireli Lagrene Era[/b]: For so long, one of the great frustrations of Gypsy jazz fans was that the genre's biggest talent, Bireli Lagrene, hadn't touched a Selmer since he was a kid. More interested in playing modern jazz, fretless bass, and even drums, Bireli seemed have been "lost" to those who loved his early Hot Club style recordings. Everyone was overjoyed when Bireli came back to his roots with the Gypsy Project. The Live in Vienne DVD may be the crowing achievement of this current revival:
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Bireli
Lagrene DVD (Zone 1)
Live Jazz a Vienne
But Bireli has also been struggling with personal problems lately. And even when he does perform or record, he's often playing an archtop in a more modern style. Seems like his return to Gypsy jazz was short lived.
For the last couple of years it doesn't seem like anyone has really stuck out as the new sensation. On the other hand, maybe we don't need that anymore. There are more active performers in N.America and Europe then ever....so maybe Gypsy jazz is evolving out of a cultish worship of a few select virtuosos into a more balanced and sustainable scene with numerous successful performers.