Last month I was asked to participate in a University of Iowa School of Music graduation recital for a violinist that I have recently been playing with.  Crazy Critters is the group in the style of Gypsy manouche Jazz, and it consists of Dave Hanson on upright bass, Oriana Ross on violin and myself on acoustic guitar.  During our rehearsals, it was apparent that playing by memory would be important.  Jazz music comes alive when players are listening to each other rather than staring at the notes in front of them.  Although I have immersed myself in Jazz music for decades, the confidence and ability to memorize songs for a live performance has been a challenge. I knew I needed to change my memorization method.

Thanks to growing up with my sisters’ vinyl record collection, early on I became a fan of 80’s pop music, and even a generic best of 80's playlist still has me snapping fingers.  At the same time, I love jazz standards performed by all the various acoustic ensembles and their freedom to arrange a melody in countless ways.  Why not take hits of the 80's and do the same thing?  Currently, I am playing with a flute player and violinist, and I have been thinking about reimagining 80’s chartbusters as instrumentals in a jazz trio style.

I am fortunate to be part of a project with a drummer, bassist and vocalist working on writing original rock songs.  This will be a challenge since songs don’t appear out of thin air or record themselves.  Birthing original songs will require the accumulation of musical material while minimizing the temptation to mimic others and instead, allow the band to grow both on a musical and personal level.

My neighborhood’s annual Longfellow Front Porch Music Festival is the perfect setting for throwing together something fresh.  I am concocting a set of music for a 7-piece group consisting of vocals, violin, flute, saxophone, upright bass and two acoustic guitars for this year’s porch fest.  The aim is for a swinging jazz ensemble in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli’s Hot Club of France, which ranks as some of my all time favorite music.  Alone from a guitarist’s perspective this genre known as jazz manouche is extremely interesting.  The groundwork left behind by the legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt is very challenging.  However, instead of focusing on Django’s one of a kind playing style, I want to share how I am going about getting arrangements ready for this upcoming gig.