Mel Bay's Music of Django Reinhardt Review

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(More customer reviews)Guitarist Stan Ayeroff is no greenhorn when it comes to the music of Django Reinhardt. Many aspiring guitarists have a dog-earred copy of Ayeroff's classic book Django Reinhardt that provided a fine introduction to his Hot Club music.
Now, Ayeroff is back with a master thesis on Django Reinhardt's music, a 272-page analysis of his musical style, eccentric two-finger technique, and virtuoso tricks. If you can't get enough of Django, here's more to fan the flames.
Along with the analysis of Django's music, this book is packed with transcriptions of forty-four solos. No song heads or melodies are included; the heads are easy enough to find in other collections.
The choice of songs here is weighted toward Django's earliest recordings with the Quintette du Hot Club de France, including "Japanese Sandman," "Swannee River," "Limehouse Blues," "Rose Room," "My Melancholy Baby," and the other usual suspects. This choice of songs provides a good basis in Django's playing and a foundation for jamming on other classic swing numbers, but does leave one wishing there was more of Django's own compositions with his musical extrapolations of his own themes.
The book is all written in standard notation, which is fine and dandy considering the level of musical expertise here. But it's a shame that the music is not also offered in tablature: With the renaissance of interest in Django's music, there are many greenhorns lusting for just such a book, and the addition of tab may have expanded the market for this book many times over.
Interestingly, the solo transcriptions are notated for playing with just two fingers à la Django. Of course you don't have to follow this and can use all your digits, but it does aid immensely in understanding Django's approach to the fretboard.
If you're serious about your Django, you'll want this book?whether you read or have to struggle through each exercise.

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Product Description:
The solos of Django Reinhardt are an endless source of inspiration and amazement for any musician. In this exciting book, the author has compiled precise solo transcriptions (in notation only), as well as a thorough analysis of each. There is also a complete "how to" section that is like a book in itself. This book contains some of Django's best work. It covers a period of 17 years, from Django's first trio and quintet recordings to one of his last bop-influenced sessions, "Live at the Club St. Germain." Multiple versions of many solos are included to show Djangos' musical development over his long career. Studying the music of the master of Gypsy Jazz can help lay a solid foundation for your own sound and style.

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