Musical comparison

I chose to review the piano solo called Django. I am going to write a paper on Django Reinhardt, the gypsy jazz guitarist for another class, and so am interested in learning as much as I can about his style of sound. I have developed a new appreciation for jazz as a result of my research. The two contrasting pieces are played with a lot of improvisation and differ in technique.

The first one simply titled Django, starts out with the basic melodic introduction of the minor key and about half way through he starts to improvise the chords using substitutions. You can feel the passion he has for the piece due to the pick up of the rhythm. It seems that he then becomes more contemplative as the tempo slows back down and he returns to the original melodic line. This version has a more full sound than the next one. He seemed to be a young man and was playing a grand piano on a stage in modern times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AWnyGsxTkI&feature=related

The second one was done in the 50’s or 60’s by the John Lewis trio and includes accompaniment on upright bass and drums. It starts out in a similar fashion as the first one and then morphs into a very improvisational and more obscure impression of the melody. It has a lot more syncopation and less classical style arpeggios and chord progressions than the first. I actually enjoyed this one much more because it took me out a lot farther from the original melody and into a contemplative and serene space of new melodic possibilities that I otherwise would not have imagined.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siU4m39B89o&feature=related