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Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Snowday

February 28, 2012 at 7:53 AM

To give you an idea of how this winter has added up, this is my back porch, and the object covered in snow is our barbecue. We had another 14 inches this past storm, and if I had a guess as to how much snow we've had for the total season, I'd say between eight and nine feet. Anchorage has had more like ten. This amount of snow changes the entire geography of the town, making canyons of the roads and hiding entire businesses behind violent upheavals of mountain ranges. But the moose now have the added benefit of grazing on treetops, like giraffes.

Since it wasn't such a great day for a barbecue, I spent the first two hours trying to get out of the driveway and the rest of the day sitting in my soggy socks, transcribing Stephane Grappelli, fussing over which bowings and fingerings made it sound like it should. Email me if you want a copy. You won't find a more accurate rendition, and I've been having lots of fun shaping my phrases and slides, trying to learn to sing it like the old masters did.

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Grappelli is perfect for confronting nine feet of snow. His wonderful jazz brings lots of joy. While I don't envy you the snow, I do envy you the ability to make Grappelli your own. Thanks for sharing that.
The delicacy and taste in Grappelly's bowing is a constant pleasure. He learned as a boy on the streets, you may know, much later took some lessons from someone in England. He was the first major follower of Joe Venuti's lead (check out Venuti's recordings from about 1926 on to hear violin jazz invented), but had his own musical voice virtually from the beginning. It is also interesting to note that Django Reinhardt was a violinst before he was a guitarist, had to switch after his hand was mangled in the fire; and there are a few Reinhardt violin recordings around, most interesting.
Wow, I didn't know that about Reinhardt--thanks for sharing that!

What should I transcribe next?

Anything of Reinhardt's would be great. Please email me anything you transcribe. Thanks. You should also see Woody Allen's movie "Sweet and Lowdown" if you have never seen it. Sean Penn plays a jazz guitar player who is obsessed with Reinhardt and the fact that he cannot match Reinhardt. It's a fun film.

Interestingly, during WWII, Reinhardt, who was a Roma gypsy, lived and worked openly in Paris. He was protected from the Nazis' desire to eliminate "inferior races" like the Romas by a jazz-loving Luftwaffe officer.

That is interesting, and it brings a whole lot more meaning to his playing. Amazing story.

I'll try sending you the sheet music this evening, after a couple of edits.

I'm thinking of trying something a little more difficult for the next one, say Minor Swing. Awww yeah...
Emily, this is so cool! Could you email me a copy please? I've always wanted to play some of Grappelli's music!
My suggestion for the next one (if you happen to do another) is his version of Stardust...one of my favorites.
Thanks! :)
Thanks for the wonderful posts! I really enjoy them.

Have you heard the Grappelli solo on Paul Simon's first solo album called "Hobo's Blues?" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UPO8U0/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk9

I would love to have a copy of your transcription of "Night and Day!" Thanks!

Nice work Emily!

I suggest reading about The South-Grappelli Recordings of the Bach Double Violin Concerto.
It gives a transcription and talks about 2 1937 recordings of the Concerto for Two Violins in D minor featuring the American Eddie South and the
Frenchman Stéphane Grappelli as soloists.
Here is a pdf online:
http://ddata.over-blog.com/0/34/91/81//GIVAN-Bach.pdf

Next i'd suggest a lesser known but beautiful tune, "Rolls". Composed by Grappelli for the music "Les Valseuses. "Here is a version played by Laurent Korcia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRjkVStZLXs

Everyone who wants a transcription needs to email me via this website so I can send it to you. Otherwise, I can't.

(Edit: First, I have to download some software to convert my file to a pdf. Updates to follow...)