I was listening yesterday to Grant Green's 1963 album Idle Moments, which features a very nice rendition of "Django." It got me wondering, how did Lindsey know about this tune, and why did he decide to include his short reading of it on the Buckingham Nicks album? I don't recall him ever mentioning that he ever listened to very much jazz in his youth, or at any other time in his life. Anyone have any idea?
I can't recall him saying anything about jazz influences. I wondered whether he covered that song because it was written in tribute to Django Reinhardt but he doesn't sound that enthusiastic about him in this quote from a recent interview:
Your guitar playing has a definite gypsy flair. I hear it especially in “Precious Time,” with all those rippling, spiral-staircasing figures. Do you have an inner Django Reinhardt?
A: Of course I have a regard for his playing. I don’t think it played into any of this stuff. Certainly, I’m influenced by classical guitar playing and obviously folk and anything with fingerpicking. Starting young, it was all about finding your own style.
Edit: I've just found this quote from another interview on his official site, again nothing too specific. He can he pretty vague, our Linds. But it sounds like his dad was a jazz fan.
"Flying Down Juniper," from the new record, sounded kind of jazzy. Do you have any jazz influence in your playing?
BUCKINGHAM Not a lot, but I know what you're saying. You could perceive it as a little more camp, or whatever. I think my wife thought it sounded like the Love Boat theme. If you dig a little deeper, certainly my father had a lot of 78s and Dixieland jazz, which wouldn't have applied, I don't think. It wasn't like I was listening to a lot of Latin rhythms. You get some of that in folk. And if you accept it as something that's not too schmaltzy, then occasionally that's OK. The thing about "Juniper," too, is that much as it's sort of a no-no, I'm a sucker for the major seventh every once in a while. I think it's an emotional place to go, if you can make it work properly. It works in a much less sentimental way on the song "Under the Skin," but that song "Juniper" really was about remembering my own childhood: how you see things as a parent that you had no idea of when you were a child, the way you objectify your parents and think of them as completely invulnerable.
Thanks for the quotes, Sharon!
Interesting, Lindsey mentions his dad was into Dixieland, but "Django" obviously doesn't fit into that mold.
I wonder if maybe it was a song that Lindsey learned when he was first picking up guitar. Did he ever take formal lessons? "Django" was first recorded in 1954, but I think it became a standard pretty quickly and might have been something that guitar teachers liked to use.
The interesting thing is that the song was written as a tribute to guitarist Django Reinhardt, but its composer, John Lewis, was a pianist; and his band, The Modern Jazz Quartet, did not have a guitarist in the band.
From looking at a list of people who've recorded it, there's only a small percentage of guitarists who've covered it (Charlie Byrd, Grant Green, Joe Pass, Joe Beck). It's mostly keyboard based jazz bands.
I wonder if maybe it was a song that Lindsey learned when he was first picking up guitar. Did he ever take formal lessons? "Django" was first recorded in 1954, but I think it became a standard pretty quickly and might have been something that guitar teachers liked to use.
I've never heard him say he took lessons, rather learnt how to play by listening to records. I do know that his father's record collection was a huge influence on him because that's something he's often mentioned, Law & Order in particular was inspired by it and his whole crazy "guitar army" idea.
The interesting thing is that the song was written as a tribute to guitarist Django Reinhardt, but its composer, John Lewis, was a pianist; and his band, The Modern Jazz Quartet, did not have a guitarist in the band.
From looking at a list of people who've recorded it, there's only a small percentage of guitarists who've covered it (Charlie Byrd, Grant Green, Joe Pass, Joe Beck). It's mostly keyboard based jazz bands.
That is interesting. I can imagine Lindsey reinterpreting a piano version. Are you familiar at all with the other guitar versions? I'm just curious how similar it is.
That is interesting. I can imagine Lindsey reinterpreting a piano version. Are you familiar at all with the other guitar versions? I'm just curious how similar it is.
Here's Grant Green's recording, which inspired the thread.:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AEKQ9ZS0
This whole album is a really beautiful little work.