Minor Swing - A Django cover

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Hicks
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Tom Hicks

Tom Hicks

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RIP Lionel Hampton
hamp.jpg


Here is a tune from that 30s swing era by the gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt

Minor Swing
 
Can't play WMA, try mp3 or wav. - The Standards ya know?

:)
 
Refreshing

Man it is great to hear this. It is so refreshing to hear something different. Swing doesnt get much representation here and this is great. Great playing...did you do the backup as well or just the solo guitar?? Nice mix, maybe a slight timing issue here and there but nothing major.

I likes it!!!
The King
 
i like this a lot.........very fresh and live sounding...........the timing issues are mainly when the guitars double their lines on the left and right channels (not the main lead)...........really cool, i like it
 
Many thanks to all for taking the time to listen and comment on this tune.
Emeric-I thought this tune WAS a standard!
King Elvis-Thanks for the nice comments.I think I did about 8 tracks of acoustic guitar on this.I was reading a post at the mastering forum of RO with an experienced Nashville guy and this was my attempt to try his EQ and level suggestions for acoustic rhythm guitars.I rolled off everything below 200 Hz and just left a background "sheen" of the higher freqs.
powderfinger-Thanks a lot.I never have the patience to keep doing retakes for the "perfect" take.I'm more a feel guy then technique-based and tend to prefer the energy of first takes,clams and all.
 
Ecellent Tom.There was one tiny flub at the very end but thats the ONLY thing I can complain about........Nice cover of the King of Gypsy swings tune!

How about a Joe Pass cover?Are you into him?Ok,I'll stop requesting songs like a drunken bar patron.;)
 
Kramer-Thanks a lot.I wish I COULD cover Joe Pass.He was just an absolute monster!I have two of his method books and I learned a lot about chord substitution and comping from his style.I regret that I never had the chance to see him perform before he died.All those bygone guitar heros like him and Wes and Django and Jim Hall and Tal Farlow and Howard Roberts etc. have no equal today.Thanks for your kind words of encouragement.
 
that was really cool and different.. I have never heard of Lionel Hampton, but I enjoyed the listen.. Nice musicianship, and a good clean sound..
 
Thanks Sami- Lionel Hampton was a drummer originally.He was on a recording date with "Pops" Louis Armstrong when they noticed a vibraphone in the corner.Pops asked if he could play it and the 20-something Hamp lied "sure".The rest is history.He broke the color barrier in the 30s with the Benny Goodman quartet,formed his own orchestra in the 40s and played for every president from Truman on.Due to Hamp's virtuosity,the vibes became a standard jazz instrument.Ironically,I just did a Hamp-style vibe accompanyment on my tune last week,Misty.Now,at age 94,he just died this weekend.
Misty
 
Nice! You've gotten rid of that stiffness that some of your earlier stuff had. It flows much freer and to me that makes it groove better. The guitars sound good....I think I'll have to try that EQing method. Roll things off below 200? How much?
I love swing and I wish I heard more of it. Django was a master. Imagine how he'd have been if he had all his fingers. :)
 
Lt. Bob- Thanks!I rolled off 10dB/octave below 200 Hz.As a guitar player,it was kinda hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that I needed to slash some of my beloved freqs to make room for all the other lower mids (or should I say mud?)
As to the stiffness,I plead rock and roll.I just quit my longtime rock band after our July 4th gig and decided to shift gears to a jazzier mode.I haven't done this in a while.
While I am not a coonass myself,one of my brothers was born in Shreveport and I have relatives from 'Nawlins up to Junction City.You are a sax man,right?If you ever need a guitar to collaborate,please give me a shout.
 
Pretty cool. I can hear Django in the tremolos. You got the tone down pat.
 
Ok, installed windows media player 7.1, although I think it hosed my OS, I can hear it now.

Nice playing!

My only complaint is rhythm guitars seem to fall out of beat, like they are racing a touch here and there. And the lead in the left channel at 00:45.

Good job!
 
All those bygone guitar heros like him and Wes and Django and Jim Hall and Tal Farlow and Howard Roberts etc. have no equal today
Click to expand...

uh... Jim Hall is very much still alive and creating...
 
sheppard- The guitar uses phospher-bronze round wound strings in a light guage (maybe 13s?).
Track Rat- Thanks,that is tall cotton indeed!He was kinda the Stevie Ray of his day in that he played with such a vigorous,muscular style.
Emeric- Sorry to put you to trouble.I'm on dialup with a limited amount of server space to post on.The .wma format at 96 kbps is probably equivalent to .mp3 at 150 or so in terms of fidelity.I'm trying to keep the file sizes down.Anything less than the bitrate I use now and the highs get that swirly,phasey sound.Thanks for your comments.Timing issues are sloppiness on my part combined with laziness in not redoing it.
AlChuck- I didn't mean all those guys are dead.Its the classic jazz era that is gone.And even though there are certainly lots of monster young guys today,the opportunities to gig and record in the style are surely lots more limited now.I listened to Jim Hall on a George Shearing CD at my brother's house Friday.That guy is the master of restrained tasteful chops for sure.
 
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