Jimi Hendrix

 

2-Year Old Playing Guitar Amazingly Well…

We've had a 13-year old that plays bass like Jaco Pastorius and a 9-year old that improvises over Stella by Starlight, but this beats everything: now there's a 2-year old playing guitar! Have a look at this toddler playing along with a Black Keys tape, freaky!

Luckily for us and the freaky baby this is fake, it’s a commercial for a new video game called “Rocksmith”.  The game play is like Guitar Hero, but this game lets you plug any guitar into a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 so you don’t have to use a toy guitar.

What do you think about games like this?

Great Django Reinhardt Documentary

Have a look at this great Django Reinhardt documentary, great music and footage!

There are 5 parts:

Part 1: general introduction, his life as a child, introduction to guitar in jazz, Django’s early career, the accident, …

 

Part 2: Louis Armstrong, Django’s encounter with Stephane Grappelli, the first quintet, the first record deal, …

 

Part 3: Success, jamming with Coleman Hawkins, lifestyle changes, recording Minor Swing, the war, …

 

Part 4: end of the war and reunification with Stephane Grappelli, the States and Duke Ellington, the electric guitar, the composer, Nuages, …

 

Part 5: the painter, his death, farewell performance with Django’s brother Joseph.

The Results of Guitar Education in North Korea

Cute and all and their timing ain’t too bad either.  I wonder what kind of childhood they have though, they must have been practicing a lot…  These smiles don’t seem to be very genuine either, little robots.

Serge Gainsbourg Plays Jazz

I know Serge Gainsbourg as a pop star, but apparently he started his career playing jazz.  His jazz album is called Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin (Jazz in the Ravine) and is not bad.

Here’s a video I found on Youtube.  It’s not from this album, but a recording from 1964, broadcasted on Belgium television.  Serge Gainsbourg is on the piano in a trio with guitar and bass, playing All The Things You Are.  Serge plays the theme and a chorus of improvisation, while Elek Bacsik plays four-to-the-bar accompaniment (which disturbes the piano chords a lot of times).

Serge Bacsik is actually a cousin of Django Reinhardt.  He is from Romani descent, but worked and lived in the US (he played in Las Vegas a lot).

The Power of the Pentatonic Scale

The great Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale:

Related Lesson:

Did you know you can do a lot more with the pentatonic scale than the obvious bluesy things you usually do with it?  Discover more here: Uses of the Pentatonic Scale in Jazz

Bossa Nova Classic: The Trooper (Iron Maiden)

Iron Maiden is a bossa nova band from London, formed in 1975.  They contributed a number of songs to the standard jazz repertoire, including this classic, The Trooper:

Related guitar lesson:

How to Play Bossa Nova Guitar...

A Short History of Modern African-American Music

I don't really agree, but it's funny nonetheless :)

Pat Metheny Interview (In His Underwear :)

Here’s an interview with Pat Metheny somewhere in the late 80s.  He talks about the start of his career.

Btw, he’s not actually doing the interview in his underwear, but in his jogging pants, Pat Metheny was an avid runner at that time :)

2 quotes:

“I was the worst guy in the band, which is the best position to be in…”

“Playing guitar didn’t come easy to me at all and it still doesn’t…”

 

 

Visit these links for more Pat Metheny:

• Pat Metheny Licks
• Pat Metheny Solos
• Pat Metheny’s Gear

Women in Jazz: Hiromi Uehara

I don’t often post about piano players on this blog, but this one caught my attention.  Hiromi Uehara is from Japan and she is great.

Check her out:

And a video of her trio:

 

Women in Jazz: Emily Remler Plays Tenor Madness

Here’s a great version of Tenor Madness, played by Emily Remler.  Emily was an American Jazz Guitarist who died much too soon in 1990 (at the age of 32).

She plays a great improvisation here, although it’s not a secret she listened to Wes Montgomery a lot.  I’ll blame her dress on the 80s :)

The video:

There’s more Emily Remler here:

• An Emily Remler lick.
• How to Play Bebop on Guitar.
• An excerpt of her Latin instructional video.
• A concert video together with John Abercrombie.
• A great Emily Remler tribute website with a lot of transcriptions.

Finally, here’s a great interview with Emily:

Musicians!? Who You Gonna Call?

The woman in this video deals with a special kind of infestation.  If she’s not careful it’ll take over her house.  Luckily there’s help…

The New Jaco Pastorius, 13 Years Old [Video]

Looks like this blog is more and more about children playing music than about jazz guitar, but anyway, here’s another boy that just got out of his diapers and is already playing better than most of us :)

Meet Pipoquinha, he’s 13 and playing bass guitar…

Btw, if you're looking for the sheet music, here it is: The Chicken - Jaco Pastorius

 

And here’s another video:

What do you think is the reason that nowadays children seem to advance so fast? The internet?

Amazing Musician: Raul Midón [Video]

Raúl Midón is an blind American singer and guitarist  from New Mexico.  He uses his voice and a distinctive way of playing guitar to create a one-man performance.  This video is his debut on television, playing his song State of Mind.  Make sure to check out the vocal trumpet solo, it’s amazing!

Sonny Rollins Promoting Guitar [Video]

An interview with Sonny Rollins in which he explains why he prefers a guitar in his band instead of piano.