Comments are closed. You can not add new comments.
I hate to be be Captain Buzzkill here, Ron, but let me offer a counter example… since you mentioned bebop, which I don’t play, or even wish to play, I am going to mention gypsy jazz.
I don’t profess to be another Django, but my other hobby besides plectrum banjo is jazz guitar, and I hang out a lot a website called djangobooks.com where lots of great guitar players go.
A few years ago there were some enthusiastic postings by a hotshot bluegrass banjo player whose musical ambition it was to have the five string banjo be accepted as a gypsy jazz instrument.
To be blunt, there was little or no enthusiasm among the gypsy jazz musicians for banjo. yes, the guy was a solid player and everything, but it was still just weird to hear Scruggs-y style banjo rolls in a gypsy jazz setting.
That poor bastard could spend his whole life honing his gypsy jazz five string banjo style, but the truth is, no matter how good he got, he would never be truly welcomed to a gypsy jazz session.
That kind of rejection is not unique to the banjo… I’m sure gypsy jazz players would also be averse to welcoming more mainstream jazz instruments such as piano, drums, trombone, trumpet or clarinet… because once you start adding adding those kind of instruments you begin to lose the essential character of gypsy jazz, namely that the guitar and violin are the stars!
So while I wish you all the support in the world In your quest to abandon chord melody In favor of a more misically sophisticated plectrum banjo style, I would really encourage you not to bang your head against a bebop brick wall…
Will; You are anything but Captain Buzzkill! Your comments inspire me by pointing out the areas that need attention; I wish more would jump into the fray! For example, you have inspired me to write a blog that I am tentatively calling “Acceptance.” This one is going to take some thought.
I hate to be be Captain Buzzkill here, Ron, but let me offer a counter example… since you mentioned bebop, which I don’t play, or even wish to play, I am going to mention gypsy jazz.
I don’t profess to be another Django, but my other hobby besides plectrum banjo is jazz guitar, and I hang out a lot a website called djangobooks.com where lots of great guitar players go.
A few years ago there were some enthusiastic postings by a hotshot bluegrass banjo player whose musical ambition it was to have the five string banjo be accepted as a gypsy jazz instrument.
To be blunt, there was little or no enthusiasm among the gypsy jazz musicians for banjo. yes, the guy was a solid player and everything, but it was still just weird to hear Scruggs-y style banjo rolls in a gypsy jazz setting.
That poor bastard could spend his whole life honing his gypsy jazz five string banjo style, but the truth is, no matter how good he got, he would never be truly welcomed to a gypsy jazz session.
That kind of rejection is not unique to the banjo… I’m sure gypsy jazz players would also be averse to welcoming more mainstream jazz instruments such as piano, drums, trombone, trumpet or clarinet… because once you start adding adding those kind of instruments you begin to lose the essential character of gypsy jazz, namely that the guitar and violin are the stars!
So while I wish you all the support in the world In your quest to abandon chord melody In favor of a more misically sophisticated plectrum banjo style, I would really encourage you not to bang your head against a bebop brick wall…
Will; You are anything but Captain Buzzkill! Your comments inspire me by pointing out the areas that need attention; I wish more would jump into the fray! For example, you have inspired me to write a blog that I am tentatively calling “Acceptance.” This one is going to take some thought.