Django Reinhardt - Djangology-The Gipsy Genius

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Mission Control - Entry Number 004

Artist: Django Reinhardt
Title: Djangology-The Gipsy Genius

Release Date: 1990 (material recorded between 1936 and 1940; all material is presumably previously released)
Length: 1 hr 9 min
Relevance: Recommendation from Vignesh

My Favorites: "Limehouse Blues" & "Shine"

TLDR: Perhaps the second best choice for a first impression of jazz.

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Standard blog apology for long break since last update.  But this time, it has a happy ending.  Taking so long to feel inspired to write about this CD (it predates the proper "album") led me to grow tired of listening to it over and over again.  After deciding to power through an entry about it, I turned my bus-ride-listening attention to "This is Your Brain On Music" by Daniel J. Levitin, as read by Edward Herrmann, or, as I like to call him, Eddwwarrdd Herrmmann.  The book is great, and I'd recommend it to anyone.  I'm enjoying it so much, in fact, that I'm narrating this entry in Herrrrmmmmannnn's voice, and possibly choosing words and phrasing that Lorelai Gilmore's father might choose.  If you know Herrrrrrrmmmmmmmannnnnnn's voice well enough, I'd recommend letting him narrate to you as well, and if you don't know it, imagine what Herman Munster would sound like as a Yale-educated insurance company executive. 

Anyway, the book is a bit dense and I have Attention Deficit Disorder, so I'm sure I'll get quite a bit extra out of a second listening, but one of the many things it's made me think about is this: my perception of what jazz sounds like is centered around "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck.  Things are more "jazz" or less "jazz" by being more similar or less similar to this song, and perhaps other Brubeck songs that also played on the car radio when Grandpa Schulenburg would drive us to church, or in his den when I would go in there to browse the stacks of ancient (1970s) books.  Knowing then that Grandpa was a huge jazz fan, and hearing Brubeck and especially "Take Five" more than any other* artist or song, perhaps as frequently as every week, I naturally assumed he was the best jazz artist, or the most prolific, or the more famous, or the earliest, or perhaps all of these together.  Later on I heard that Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and their peers were some of the earliest jazz artists.  I say I "heard" this because I can't say that I "learned" it, as it wasn't added into my overall perception of jazz enough to replace Brubeck as the essential example of what jazz is.

* Of course, I've probably heard Vince Guaraldi's music from the Peanuts holiday specials more often than Dave Brubeck, but that always had an asterisk attached, much like the one you're reading now, that indicated it was Christmas-jazz, or just Christmas music, and therefore a novelty.  I can tell now that this is unfair.  Don't cut me out of the inheritance, Dad.

I'll start talking about Django Reinhardt very soon, but I'd first like to point out how great it is that, though jazz is a famously American invention, the first recordings in the jazz genre that I get to listen to in this mission are from a French group with a Romani leader (and a homosexual co-pilot; Hitler must have loved them [... according to this, my snark has a ring of truth: Django's survival through WW2 was assisted by Nazi jazz-fans]).  I would have loved to have heard some Louis Armstrong or other early jazz artist, but none are on the mission list, and I have a strange tendency to not add items to my own list simply because they deserve to be on it.  In fact most of what I've personally added are included due to a reputation for being among the worst albums ever.

So, then, Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.  I loved it instantly.  Something makes me want to describe them by using the word "pleasant" as strongly as possible.  Fiercely enjoyable, often whirlwindy, and perhaps the most bad-ass I can imagine music getting before offending someone.  Though G-Rated, nothing here is boring or tame.  While guitarist Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli are able to rest when it's the other one's turn to solo, as a listener I'm driven along the entire time, tossed from one instrument to the next without a lull.  Levitin, in "...Brain...," describes the common jazz practice of playing the conventional melody of a song once or twice before launching into improvisations, as sort of a starting point for the song, and recommends humming the basic melody during the improvisations to help anchor the continuity of the song.  Both of these ideas helped me make sense of what I was listening to, and to feel like I was listening to it the way I was supposed to be, like I was listening for the right things.  The common-melody-then-improvisations is done here on standards I'm somewhat familiar with as well as on songs that are new to me, and it's a very satisfying effect in both cases.  These are all great reasons to listen to this collection as an introduction to early jazz, all of which overshadow the fact that it isn't performed by an American.  Obviously I don't yet know the differences between Django Reinhardt and Louis Armstrong, but Reinhardt definitely admired Armstrong, and the two hung out and played together a bit, so I'm thinking this may be the second best choice for an introduction to jazz.

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Up Next: Another alcoholic who didn't make it to 30

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My friends want me to live longer

Once again, another summer camp season is over, and once again, a new grip of suggestions comes in from the new friends I've met or the old friends I've successfully harassed.  Oh boy oh boy oh boy.  I'm excited because quite a few bands I was hoping to see on the mission have now been added.  Good work, gang!

Barenaked Ladies - Stunt [Hook]
Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow [Gumby]
Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds and a Sound [Neon]
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago [Scout]
Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors [Meeko]
Dave Matthews Band - Crash [Sky]
Descendants - Somery [Milo]
DeVotchka - How It Ends [Pace]
DJ Laz - Category 6 ["BARK"]
Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli - Djangology [Vignesh]
Electric President - Electric President [Mordecai]
Flaming Lips - Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid [Flint]
Iron and Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle [Arken]
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams [Wolf]
Johnny Cash - Patriot [Mom]
Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter [Pax] 
Killers - Sam's Town [Squid]
Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing [Julie]
MC Frontalot - Secrets from the Future [Spy]
Missy Higgins - On a Clear Night [Bubble]
Missy Higgins - Sound of White [Spark]
Neil Diamond - Hot August Night [Flank]
Say Anything - Menorah/Mejora [Pickle]
Shins - Wincing the Night Away [Rowan]
Silver Jews - American Water [Sangita]
Southern Belle - Hurry Up and Thrill Me [Turbo]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea [Muse]
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend [Mac]
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary [Mowgli]

These will be have been added into the Master Lists pretty soon.  I wish I had an intern to do the administrative crap for me.

Skip James – The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James

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Mission Control - Entry Number 003 (time warp, should have been between 1&2)

Artist: Skip James
Title: The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James

Release Date: 1994 (material originally recorded and released 1931)
Length: 53 min
Relevance: Recommendation from Ian

Pre-Listen: I've heard "Devil Got My Woman" from its appearance in "Ghost World."

My Favorites: "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" & "How Long Blues"

TLDR: At times more lively and upbeat than Robert Johnson, but at times the sound quality is problematic.

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This should have been listened to before the Robert Johnson collection, but Ian didn't make the recommendation until I'd already started listening to the Johnson entry. No big deal this time, and this will inevitably happen again with way more time-warpiness. Oh well, moving on.

The thing that stands out most to me about this collection of songs is that it shows a lot more variety than Robert Johnson's work. With one or two exceptions, such as "They're Red Hot," most of Johnson's songs sounded very similar to me, almost to the point of having a recognizable template. Skip James' songs, however, are more varied in tempo, instrument and theme. Johnson keeps pretty close to the themes of difficult women, hard luck, hellish life, etc. James hits these themes, but also has a few religious songs, which seems to confirm this citation-needy line from his Wikipedia entry:

"James epitomized the complicated personality typical of many bluesmen, living a hard and sometimes reckless life while holding austere religious beliefs."

Johnson, by comparison, asks for assistance from God a few times in his songs, but doesn't go out of his way to express any positive, enthusiastic religious view. This non-well-roundedness, bent toward the cooler, eviler side, may be why Johnson seems to be a more charismatic and sexy idea for rock musicians to latch onto, and part of why Johnson's legend is larger than James' (along with, you know, his mysterious early death and all that).

Skip James recorded in the very early 1930s, and there must have been significant advancement in recording clarity before Robert Johnson's 1936/37 sessions, or perhaps higher quality equipment for Johnson to use. The difference is noticeable, and James is often unintelligible, like the more gravelly parts of the Anthology of American Folk Music, which was recorded in the same couple years. The liveliness of his more upbeat songs comes through, however, so I will probably be revisiting this album as much as Johnson's work. It's nice to hear that even bluesmen can enjoy a nice few minutes of jaunty piano. I'm also glad I got a third piece of music from before 1950. Thanks, Ian!

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Up Next: An inspiration, of sorts, for Jerry Garcia and Tony Iommi.

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