A weblog in English and Dutch about jazz and related music, record collecting and other music projects originally created by Hans Koert.|Een webblog in het Engels en het Nederlands over jazz, jazz-verwante muziek, platen verzamelen en verrassende projecten, oorspronkelijk opgezet door Hans Koert.
I wish readers of the keep(it)swinging blog a Happy New Year 2018 and thank you for your interest and support in 2017. The blog and related blogs under the keepitswinging.domain will be discontinued in 2018 due to personal matters. However, a fixed date according this step has not yet been scheduled, I'll announce more precisely later. Till then, keep coming back to keep updated. Thank you for your understanding.
Original sheet music, 1927
Irving Berlin composed The Song Is Endedin 1927. In 1938, Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothersrecorded my favorite version, inserted below from YouTube to end this
Georg Lankester tells the story of the Ferret brothers – contemporary Gypsy guitarists of Django Reinhardt. The story is in three
parts, below follows part three. The
first part is available here, the second
part is published here.
Jean
“Matelo” Ferret
Jean
“Matelo” Ferret (1918 – 1989)
After
his elder brothers - in 1938 - had left home, Matelo stayed a bit upset behind, but not for long. The next year
he also left his parents and went to Paris in order to play for living. His
first engagement was in the little orchestra of the ‘father of the Musette’ Emile Vacher. Not long afterwards he
played with accordionist Guérino
(like his brothers and Django many years before). Guérino was quite succesful
with his group called La Boîte à Matelots. A
year later, Matelo switched from banjo to guitar and -as we know from many recordings – he became
an exceptional guitarist in the Gypsy- and Musette style.
In
Paris he often could be seen with Django playing in various combinations and in
1935 he joined Michel Warlop, the
great violinist who died so early;
Matelo also recorded with jazz accordionist Louis Richardet. Remarkable is that Matelo also acompanied Edith
Piaf in her very first recordings back in 1936. So the guitarist was
now a popular musician.
But also
the Jazz was gradually quite important in the Parisian entertainment scene. Thanks
to the activities of the Hot Club de France leaders, great American jazz musicians
were invited to France such as the saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Benny
Carter, as well as violinist Eddie
South. They gave concerts and recorded also with French musicians. Matelo
was often asked, just like clarinettist Hubert
Rostaing and, of course, Django
Reinhardt. And Matelo…he stayed in the same hotels as Django and also
joined the popular gypsy orchestra Casanova.
At
the beginning of the war Matelo formed part of Ekyan’s Swingtette which, in
1941, made some interesting records.Two years after that he formed his own
sextet which included two guitars, clarinet, vibes, bass and drums. His music
was inspired by Benny Goodman. Later,
in 1944, recordings of this original line-up followed, but all the same Matelo
wasmore known becuase of the Swingtette and his gypsy waltzes in which he was outstanding. Again
he performed - somewhat later - with Richardet, Viseur and Murena,the best swing accordion players of those
years. Moreover he played the best waltzes of Gusti Malha and Matteo Carcassi.
After
the war – in 1947 – Matelo joined Django’s Hot
Club Quintet as can be heard in the records R-Vingt-Six, How high the
moon, Lover man, Blue Lou and Blues.
Then there is some silence, but in the Fifties he recorded a few times for the
EMI label. However, by then the Jazz had changed and so had the taste of the
audience. Because
Matelo preferred gypsy music and in order to higlight the early compositions of
Django, he decided in 1959to go to the
studio with a trio and record the four titles Montagne-ste.Geneviève, Gagoug, Chez Jacquet and Choti, all real gems of gypsy waltzes.
The
next year he joined the orchestra of Jo
Privat who produced the album Manouche Partie as an homage to
Django – these recordings were also filmed.
Jo Privat feat. Matelot Ferret_Manouche Partie (1960)
It is
very interesting to see Matelo playing and enjoying the music. The album was
later handed to Naguine (Django’s widow) and is certainly one of the favourites
in my collection.
Matelo’s
intrest in Jazz gradually faded and he retired a bit in favour of his two sons,
Helios and Boulou (the latter considered a prodigy)..Especially Boulou played
with lots of famous musicians alll over the world. The two brothers often had
duet sessions, sometimes joined by their father.
Matelot Ferret (center) performing with his two sons
Matelo
appeared – not long before his death – at the Django Festival of Samois. He
died in Paris in 1989 as the last of the three legendary Ferret brothers. He
can be considered the best interpreter of Gypsy Waltzes the world has ever
known.
Fringe
figures
Finally
a few words on musicians around the Ferrets who also performed with them. Fist
of all guitarist Challain Ferret
(their cousin) who is less known. He was
present in the beginning within the Trio Ferret of 1938/39, as well as in a few
recordings with Gus Viseur.
Then
guitarist Jacques Montagne (member
of the Malha family) should be mentioned since he sometimes played with Sarane
and much later was present in the Manouche Partie sessions of Jo Privat where
he accompanied Matelo.
Finally
we have guitarist Maurice Ferréfrom Rouen. He used to play duets with Joseph Bouville (who also was a
guitarist) at the end of last century.
Recordings
Hot Club Records issue of Matelo Ferret
Hot Club’ Records(of Norway) issued cd’s
dedicated to “Baro” and “Matelo” in the eighties of last century.
Fremeaux box-set feat. the Ferret Brothers
And the
French company Frémeaux offers a cd-box
which includes 3 cds on the Ferret brothers and an info-booklet.
Georg Lankestertells the story of the Ferret brothers– contemporary Gypsy guitarists ofDjango Reinhardt. The story is in
three parts, below followspart two. The first part is available here, the third part is published later. Etienne “Sarane”Ferret (1912 – 1970)
The second
son of the Ferret family became the one who made far more jazz recordings than
both his brothers, in total over 50 tracks. This is rather astonishing since he
was hardly considered an established guitarist.
Etienne 'Sarane' Ferret
Jazz
attracted Sarane right from the
start and, once in Paris, he rather soon played with violinist Michel Warlop as well as with the
accordionists Gus Viseur and Tony Murena, all great improvisers. So like his
elder brother – Sarane was active in the Musette scene and recorded with
accordionists thereby playing in the Django style. But he could also often be
seen in Russian cabarets which were popular among the many Russians who had
come to the French capital. This kind of
gypsy music also attracted West-European tourists. Great musicians in those
places then were cymbalum player Nitra
Codolban and violinist Jean Gulesco.
From these artists the young Sarane learned a lot. Because he
also metDjango, he became even more interested in jazz where the banjo was
replced by the guitar. Sarane was quite familiar with this instrument and he
performed with jazz accordionists such as Charley
Bazin, Louis Richardet, Viseur and Murena ! In 1939 his quality as a soloist was confirmed when –
during a tour in England – he replaced Django in the London “Kilburn” theatre.
However,
of even more importance is that, in the early Forties, Sarane formed the Swing Quintette de Paris which gave us
many of his own compositions. More or less like Django’s new quintet, Sarane’s
formation included two clarinet players viz. André Lluis and Sylvio
Siobud. In the first recordings of
this quintet (1941) Matelo is
present in the rhythm group; shortly afterwards also Barojoined the quintet.
Odeon 281.494_Tiger Rag
Somewhat
later Sarane replaced the two clarinettists by the violinist Robert Bermosa. A remarkable recording of this formation is
Sarane’s performance of the Tiger Rag with very quick runs in
his solos (like Django did in the Thirties). Also the violin player shows a
great ‘drive’ on this record.
Georges Effroses
One year
later this ensemble is back in the studio but now with violinist Georges Effroses. Also Sarane’s
brothers are present in the rhythm group. Recordings show us a solo guitarist
with sometimes a lyrical way of improvising. The same can be said of the
Israelian violin player, who – in 1943 disappeared. Later it was revealed that
the artist had died in a concentration camp.
Towards the
end of the war a few records of Sarane and a string quartet were issued and the
formation now included guitarist Jacques
Montagne (member of the Malha family).Then follows a rather long gap, but
in the spring of 1947 Sarane finally made recordings again with his own group
now called Le Quintette de Paris featuring accordionist Gus Viseur. And again several years
passed.
Sarane Ferret in 1950s
It was only
in the late Fifties that a number of tracks of Sarane and his orchestra came
out again; the band inluded several musicians who played with Django shortly
before his death in 1953.Some names: Benny
Vasseur, Roger Guérinand Maurice
Vander. For me personally, the recordings are not so interesting. These
were about his last sessions and from then his activities declined.
Sarane
Ferret finally died in 1970 (58 years old) as the first of the three brothers.
Georg
Lankester tells the story of the Ferret brothers – contemporary Gypsy guitarists of Django Reinhardt. The story is in three
parts, below follows the first part, part two and three are published later.
The Ferret Brothers
The
name Ferretor Ferré does remind us of a great musical family that later
produced a prodigy called Boulou. For many
decades these gypsies (no Manouches) were living in the French town of Rouen
and not in a caravan like eg. the Reinhardt / Weiss family. Father
Gousti and mother Douderouhad two
daughters and three sons.This article deals with those three sons, called Pierre Joseph (“Baro”), Etienne (“Sarane”)
and Pierre Jean (“Matelo”). Further
their cousin Renë (“Challain” Ferret)
should also be mentioned, since he was more or less considered as a ‘fourth
brother’.
The Ferrets
lived for many decades in France although they were of Andalusian origin. We
can really speak of a musical family: Douderou was very fond of Operette and
the girls became singers. The three boys were soon familiar with string
instruments since their uncles, who used to play these, learned them the
technique. In those years the banduria
(a Spanish kind of mandolin) and the
banjo were popular instruments; much
later the guitar would become important.
In the
Thirties Baro and Saraneleft home and went to Paris; rather soon they formed
part of the world of entertainment while playing in Russian cabarets and at
balls where they accompanied accordionists. The French Musette which started
around 1900, had become very popular and the top accordionists preferred to be
backed up by gypsies because of their rhythm and control of string instruments
.
The role of the banjo
This
instrument on which the young Django
Reinhardt was a star player, gradually became less popular for the
following reason: In 1928 Django – who was involved in a fire accident - became seriously injured. However, during his
recovery period he learned to play
guitar and developed an amazing technique and great virtuosity despite a
crippled left hand. He came back in the Parisian world of music, at first to
accompany singers, later playing with jazz musicians (e.g. saxophonist André Ekyan). From late1934 he became
one of the star players in the Hot Club quintet next to violinist Stéphane Grappelli.
Django’s unparallelled guitar playing made great
impression on his fellow gypsies and consequently many changed from banjo to
guitar. So the former Musette changed into Swing Musette whereby
accordionsts were backed by guitarists, one of which was Matelo, a master in this kind of music.
The career of the three Ferret brothers
Pierre 'Baro' Ferret (1937)
Pierre “Baro” Ferret (1908 – 1976)
His
official name was Joseph, however, he
was usually called Baro and later Mr. Camembert since he liked cheese. He started
to play the Spanish banduria, but
then switched to banjo, very popular in the Musette. And in the Thirties he
really would become an exceptional guitarist. Already in 1931 he and Sarane left home in order to settle in the French capital and he found work in the Musette scene and soon made recordings with the well-known accordion player Guérino – (NOTE Django recorded with
this artist on banjo in 1928.).
Sarane (g, left) and Baro (g, right) with accordionist
Guérino’s orchestra
Baro was
such a talent that his solo playing later almost equalled that of Django.The
two guitarists respected each other and often played together, then
experimenting for fun. The musicians had, however, totally different
characters: Django was
in fact a good man, Baro was not a very easy person and often he came in touch
with bad guys, sometimes even swindlers. Due to his friendship with Django, serious
problems fortunately could be avoided.
Starting
from 1935 Baro became a member of the Hot Club quintet and we can listen to his
fine rhythm in recordings from those days, e.g. as released by the French
company “Frémeaux”. On top of
that I refer to his recordings of beautiful waltzes issued in 1939 by the Trio Ferret with solos of Baro accompanied by his brother Matelo and Maurice Speilleux on bass. Some titles: “Ma Théo”, “Gin-Gin” (also
known as “Chez Jacquet”) and the most
famous gypsy waltz composed by Gusti Malha “La
valse des Niglots”.
And even
before, Baro recorded “Wind & Strings” with Albert Ferrari (tenor sax), the “Swing Valse” and “Swing Cocktail” joined by Gus
Viseur on accordion.
Baro Ferret (left) with accordionist Gus Viseur (late
1930s)
Here's an example from the recordings with Gus Viseur, Swing Cocktail 1938
In the
summer of 1940 the guitarist played with Viseur’s orchestra and provided some
beautiful solos – I can recommend those records.
Jo Privat
After the
war he joined accordionist Jo Privat,
who since many years was the owner of the well-known “Balajo” club. This
formation produced hits from those years as well as Reinhardt
compositions. Sometimes, when people listened they thought that it was Django
himself who played the solos !
The Baro Ferret Ensemble (late 1940s)
In 1949
Baro formed his own group The Baro
Ferret Ensemble and recorded several titles for the Odeon label. Those
performances include Jo Privat,
guitarist Jacques Montagne and Jéremie Grand’sondouble bass. The
recordings show elements of the new American jazz form Bebop which inspired
Baro to even create Bop-Waltzes. His compositions show a great musicality and a
new approach e.g. an 6/8 jazz rhythm.
During the
Fifties he recorded again with his ensemble and a piano player; these are more
modern themes which remind us of Django’s last recording sessions. At that
time Baro owned a bar where gypsies
dropped by to play and where he often joined them. However, slowly the interest
declined and eventually he sold the bar.
Pierre 'Baro' Ferret (1908-1976)
The guitarist died at the age of 68 years, more
or less in silence. During his career he was in fact never in the spotlights.
The name and recordings of jazz guitarist Bus Etri may only be known by a handful of jazz guitar nerds today. However, Bus Etri's contribution to big band swing jazz in the 1930s and early 1940s ought to be better known among fans of swing jazz guitar. Unfortunately, only few details about Bus Etri's biography and career are available, but here are the few facts I could find. Anthony 'Bus' Etri was born in Manhattan, NYC, June 22, 1917 and died in a car crash in Culver City, Ca., Aug. 21, 1941. No info available about his life and musical background until his name and guitarplaying are featured with recordings by the Hudson - DeLange Orchestrafrom 1937 - 38. When this co-lead orchestra dissolved in 1938, Bus Etri continued for some time as a member of Will Hudson's orchestra which recorded a couple of sessions for Brunswick under the name of Will Hudson and his Seven Swingsters featuring Etri on guitar. However, at some point in 1938 Bus Etri switched to Charlie Barnet's orchestra and was a stable member of this organisation for the remain of his shortlived career. Both as a member of the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra and Charlie Barnet's big band Bus Etri contributed with his remarkable and excellent jazz guitar playing on stage and records, below I'll insert some recorded examples that have been uploaded at You Tube.
The Hudson - DeLange Orchestra
March 10 and 11, 1937 the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra recorded nine titles for the Master/Brunswick label in New York, four have guitar soli by Bus Etri - they are: Stardust, College Widow, Bugle Call Rag and Wake Up And Live. Personnel of the orchestra include Charles Mitchell, Howard Schaumberger, Jimmy Blake (tp), Edward Kolyer (tb), George Bohn, Gus Bivona (cl, as), Ted Duane (cl, ts), Pete Brendel (as, bar), Mark Hyams (p), Bus Etri (g), Doc Goldberg (b), Nat Pollard (dm), Ruth Gaylor (vo), Will Hudson (arr, dir), Eddie de Lange (vo, arr, dir). Below is inserted the audio videos of Stardust and Bugle Call Rag
From the same session, Bus Etri's guitar solo playing is also featured in Bugle Call Rag
The remarkable hot chord style contributions and short single string statements by Bus Etri in the two above examples are a hallmark of his guitar playing style at this point of his career, also noticed in the recording of On The Alamo by the Hudson-DeLange orchestra from April 8, 1938
Charlie Barnet and his orchestra (c.1941)
As mentioned above, in 1938 (- probably between August and November) Bus Etri switched to the big band orchestra of Charlie Barnetand was a mainstay with this organisation until his untimely death in August 1941. Charlie Barnet and his orchestra made a considerable number of recordings for Bluebird and further was presented in transcription sessions and various live performances during the late 1930s and early 1940s featuring Bus Etri on guitar. However, much of this material outside the studio recordings by the band is still undiscovered and hard to find, thus the number of live recordings featuring Bus Etri guitar soli contributions is unknown so far.
Tappin' At The Tappa_Bluebird B-10584-B
Among the studio recordings by Charlie Barnet's orchestra for Bluebird, the first registered solo by Etri is featured in a session recorded in NYC, Jan. 3rd, 1940 on Tappin' At The Tappa - a tune by Barnet and heavily inspired by the Ellington sound. Personnel include Robert Burnet, Billy May, John Owens, Lyman Vunk (tp), Spud Murphy, Don Ruppersberg, Bill Robertson (tb), Noni Bernardi, James Lamare, Gene Kinsey (as), Charlie Barnet (as, ts, ldr), Kurt Bloom (ts), Bill Miller (p), Bus Etri (g), Phil Stevens (b), Cliff Leeman (dm).
Bus Etri's solo contribution at this recording of Tappin' At The Tappa is still played on the acoustic archtop guitar and his style of playing has not changed fundamentally compared to the mix of chords and short single string statements known from the contributions with the Hudson - DeLange Orchestra. However, two months later Bus Etri has changed to amplified/electric guitar and now a new dimension in his playing style is revealed in a session with Charlie Barnet for Bluebird on March 21, 1940. Two titles from this session have soli by Etri, they are featured in A Lover's Lullaby and Wanderin' Blues.
Wanderin' Blues_Bluebird B-10721-B
The audio of Wanderin' Blues has also been uploaded at You Tube and is inserted below
Jazz critic Jan Evensmo writes in his solography on Bus Etri (- free available as a downloadable pdf document, here) about this recording of Wanderin' Blues, quote: “Wanderin’ Blues”! Mostly played single string in the bottom register, it is a 100% original conception of the blues. Ranging from down-to-earth blue phrases to an almost Ravellian atmosphere in bars 9-10, purposefully played out of beat, the solo gives altogether the impression of a true innovator on the instrument." Bus Etri's switching to the amplified/electric guitar implied a noticeable change in his playing style, now more focused on single string contribution. This may be the reason why some critics have characterized Bus Etri as 'the white Charlie Christian', a comparison also evident in the recording of Flying Home by the Charlie Barnet orchestra from May 8, 1940, although Etri's short solo in this take of the famous swing tune does not copy Charlie Christian, well, you may judge for yourself
Two more examples of Bus Etri's contributions on amplified/electric guitar with Charlie Barnet are inserted below to further characterize his playing style. Here is first a recording for Bluebird on Jan. 7, 1941 of Charlie Barnet's Blue Juice
Jan Evensmo writes in his Bus Etri solography about Blue Juice, quote: "It seems that BE had a particular knack for the blues, and he plays very well here, mixing a driving single string with strange chords, creating rather unique results, not to be mistaken for any other contemporary guitar player, nor later ones. Note how he uses several of Charlie Christian’s tricks, adapted to his own needs." The same applies to the transcription recording of Uptown Blues from about the same time, inserted below from You Tube as the last example here of the jazz guitar playing style by the legendary Bus Etri
The above inserted photo of Bus Etri is copied from the updated solography by Jan Evensmo, which also features another illustration in color of the guitarist. The solography by Jan Evensmo is a must for serious researchers of Bus Etri's recorded legacy and I strongly recommend you to download the pdf , if you like to have a detailed outline of registered soli contributions by this excellent guitarist. ---
Bye Bye Blues is a popular standard tune performed by numerous artists and bands. It was written by Fred Hamm, Dave Bennett, Bert Lown, and Chauncey Gray and published in 1925. Fred Hamm and his orchestrarecorded the initial version of the song for Victor in May 1925 as one of the label's first electrically processed recordings
Fred Hamm and his orchestra c. 1925 (YouTube still)
Fred Hamm and his Orchestra were a dance band from Chicago that was managed by Edgar Benson of Benson Orchestra fame. Hamm's Orchestra performed at the Marigold Garden in Chicago from 1923 to 1925. In 1925 Fred Hamm took over the leadership of the Benson Orchestra and recorded some sides for Victor that year. Fred Hamm recorded again in 1929 under the name of Fred Hamm and his Collegians (info from Red Hot Jazz Archive).
Sheet music front feat. Bert Lown
In July 1930 Bert Lown (co-writer of the song) recorded Bye Bye Bluesfor both Columbia and Hit of the Week as Bert Lown & His Hotel Biltmore Orchestra, below is inserted the Columbia 2258-D version recorded July 21 1930 in NYC
Frankie Trumbauer
Frankie Trumbauer and his orchestra recorded their version of Bye Bye Bluesfor Okeh September 8, 1930 in New York, vocal refrain by Smith Ballew
Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway and his orchestra recorded a great big band swing version of Bye Bye Blues in 1940 featuring solos by Chu Berry (ts), Dizzy Gillespie (tp) and Tyree Glenn (vib)
Benny Carter
In April 1946 Benny Carter (as) recorded a swinging version of Bye Bye Blues with Arnold Ross (p), Allan Reuss (g), Artie Bernstein (b) and Nick Fatool (d) for Keynote in Los Angeles
Stan Getz
The last version of Bye Bye Blues to be presented here was recorded by the Stan Getz Quartet in 1957 for the HMV album titled The Soft Swing. Personnel include Stan Getz (ts), Mose Allison (p), Addison Farmer (b) and Jerry Segal (d)
Gerald Rossis a multi-instrumentalist mastering various string instruments like guitar, lap steel guitar, bass, mandolin - and ukulele. With a musical background as selftaught he has had a career playing professionally since 1970. In later years, he has successfully focused on the ukulele as a solo voice applying excellent fingerstyle technique in his playing the small instrument and by adding a repertoire of popular music, jazz and swing in his own well elaborated arrangements. Mr. Ross has released six self produced CDs on his own Uke Tone label devoted to the ukulele (- more info, here). I was thrilled to find and explore his appropriately titled Swing Ukulele CD some years ago and I wrote a small review, here. Just recently I found Gerald Ross' latest release on Spotify and like to point you to this CD here
Gerald Ross, Absolute Uke (UT-2306, 2015)
The CD has fourteen tracks and the repertoire is a mixed bag of Swing, Jazz, Pop, a.o. including Gerald Ross' arrangements of Ellington & Strayhorn's Take The 'A' Train, Gershwin's Sweet And Lowdown and the Swing-Era standard Rose Room. Further there are Latin pieces like You Belong To My Heart/Solamente Una Vez and Wave by Jobim, and you also have great arrangements and performance of popular tunes like Under Paris Skies, September Song, Sugar, All Of Me a.o.. About the repertoire Gerald Ross writes in the sleeve notes, quote: "It's all music to me. Whether it's labeled Swing, Jazz, Pop, Latin, or Folk ... the styles all feature a memorable melody and a strong rhythmic pulse that have filled the airwaves and dance floors for years. Yes, there are distinct differences between them which are well-documented by music historians and theorists. But to me, their similarities far outweigh their differences." - This attitude to the chosen tunes at the disc makes it a homogeneous product of a creative mind and a very skilled musician, who knows his sources and how to present the music in an appealing form which meets the listener immediately. I highly recommend the CD to anyone with an open ear for great music performance and enjoable tunes evoking good vibrations and bright memories of a time when a musical theme was immediately recognizable and easily digestible. The CD is available for purchase at Gerald Ross' website, here. - Below some examples of music featured at the CD from uploaded videos at YouTube. Here is first Gerald Ross' version of Take The 'A' Train
Next, a great version of You Belong To My Heart/Solamente Una Vez
Finally to end this small review, here's Gerald Ross' rendition of All Of Me
More videos featuring Gerald Ross at his You Tube Channel, here ---
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