The Jazz Violin Podcast

Episode 14 - Grappelli Special with John Etheridge

You can become a patron of the podcast on Patreon by following this link
https://www.patreon.com/Jazzviolinpodcast
Becoming a patron of the podcast means that you are directly helping the podcast continue. This is a chance for you to help out with the running costs of the podcast, if you feel like you get a lot out of my interviews you can be a part of it by donating a small amount of money.
I will be creating one extra monthly show specifically for my patrons where I listen back to previous shows and chat about some key points that my guests bring up. There are so many great ideas and concepts that these amazing musicians bring up and I would like to share with you some of my favourites! This is great for beginner jazz violinists who want a little direction once in a while.
This episode is sponsored by Ithaca Strings and Headway Audio.
Ithaca Strings
www.ithacastring.com/
Ithaca Strings IS Eric Aceto, a luthier, violinist and producer of the ISI dual pickup system. This system is by far the best and most honest sounding violin pickup system on the market right now! It blends an Electret microphone with a bridge pickup, both attaching to a stereo jack out under the chin rest. This means you get the solid sound of the pick up blended with the sweeter sound of the Electret mic without heavy cables attached to your instrument. Eric also makes amazing instruments and has made both pickups and violins for Jean Luc Ponty, Zach Brock, Matt Glaser and many other amazing musicians.
 
Headway Audio
https://www.headwaymusicaudio.com/
Headway was founded in the UK in 2006 by John Littler, they make pickups and preamps for string instruments. Most famously they make 'The Band' pickup for violin, viola, cello and bass, which is a very reasonably priced pickup that wraps around the body of the instrument.
They make the amazing EDB2, an acoustic instrument preamp that can blend 2 channels of audio to a balanced output ready for the sound desk. This is perfect for blending a microphone and a pickup on the same instrument, as is needed with Eric Aceto's dual system. The EDB2 also has 5 band EQ, a notch filter and the ability to power each channel differently. Its an amazing piece of kit!
 
John Etheridge is a guitarist from the UK, he was in the band 'Soft Machine' and was picked up by Diz Dizley to become Stephane Grappelli's lead guitarist between 1976 and 1981. John is a great dude and an amazing player, it was fun to chat with him in his London home about his days with Grappelli and a bunch of other music related stuff too. John has a great way with words and is a natural storyteller. Hope you enjoy.

Episode 13 - Christian Howes

You can become a patron of the podcast on Patreon by following this link
https://www.patreon.com/Jazzviolinpodcast
Becoming a patron of the podcast means that you are directly helping the podcast continue. This is a chance for you to help out with the running costs of the podcast, if you feel like you get a lot out of my interviews you can be a part of it by donating a small amount of money.
I will be creating one extra monthly show specifically for my patrons where I listen back to previous shows and chat about some key points that my guests bring up. There are so many great ideas and concepts that these amazing musicians bring up and I would like to share with you some of my favourites! This is great for beginner jazz violinists who want a little direction once in a while.
 
This episode is sponsored by Ithaca Strings and Headway Audio. 
 
Ithaca Strings
www.ithacastring.com/
Ithaca Strings IS Eric Aceto, a luthier, violinist and producer of the ISI dual pickup system. This system is by far the best and most honest sounding violin pickup system on the market right now! It blends an Electret microphone with a bridge pickup, both attaching to a stereo jack out under the chin rest. This means you get the solid sound of the pick up blended with the sweeter sound of the Electret mic without heavy cables attached to your instrument. Eric also makes amazing instruments and has made both pickups and violins for Jean Luc Ponty, Zach Brock, Matt Glaser and many other amazing musicians.
 
Headway Audio
https://www.headwaymusicaudio.com/
Headway was founded in the UK in 2006 by John Littler, they make pickups and preamps for string instruments. Most famously they make 'The Band' pickup for violin, viola, cello and bass, which is a very reasonably priced pickup that wraps around the body of the instrument.
They make the amazing EDB2, an acoustic instrument preamp that can blend 2 channels of audio to a balanced output ready for the sound desk. This is perfect for blending a microphone and a pickup on the same instrument, as is needed with Eric Aceto's dual system. The EDB2 also has 5 band EQ, a notch filter and the ability to power each channel differently. Its an amazing piece of kit!
Christian Howes
Christian Howes is a jazz violinist, educator and composer. He runs Creative Strings, the non for profit organisation dedicated to teaching string players how to play music out-with the classical idiom. He runs regular summer camps across the world and had taught and mentored many amazing artists that are now making their own careers in the music industry, like our friend Jason Anick.
 
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Episode 12 - Jean Luc Ponty

 
This episode is sponsored by Ithaca Strings. 
www.ithacastring.com/
Ithaca Strings IS Eric Aceto, a luthier, violinist and producer of the ISI dual pickup system. This system is by far the best and most honest sounding violin pickup system on the market right now! It blends an Electret microphone with a bridge pickup, both attaching to a stereo jack out under the chin rest. This means you get the solid sound of the pick up blended with the sweeter sound of the Electret mic without heavy cables attached to your instrument. Eric also makes amazing instruments and has made both pickups and violins for Jean Luc Ponty, Zach Brock, Matt Glaser and many other amazing musicians.
 
Jean Luc Ponty is THE living legend of jazz violin so I'm super excited to share this episode with you. Jean Luc was one of the first people to play anything past swing and pre-bop jazz on the violin, he has been pushing jazz violin forward since his first solo record 'Jazz Long Playing' in 1964. We had a nice long chat about his development as a musician and how he keeps his chops up to scratch. I hope you enjoy.

Episode 11 - Tim Kliphuis

****This months episode is a little late due to my being on tour for the whole of November, stuck in the back of a van****
 
This episode is sponsored by Ithaca Strings. 
www.ithacastring.com/
Ithaca Strings IS Eric Aceto, a luthier, violinist and producer of the ISI dual pickup system. This system is by far the best and most honest sounding violin pickup system on the market right now! It blends an Electret microphone with a bridge pickup, both attaching to a stereo jack out under the chin rest. This means you get the solid sound of the pick up blended with the sweeter sound of the Electret mic without heavy cables attached to your instrument. Eric also makes amazing instruments and has made both pickups and violins for Jean Luc Ponty, Zach Brock, Matt Glaser and many other amazing musicians.
 
Tim Kliphuis
www.timkliphuis.com/
Tim is one of the front runners of jazz violin in the world today! He has an amazing tone, and as well as being a very creative improviser he really has the late Grappelli sound down! I studied a little with Tim when I first started learning jazz, he is a wonderful teacher and lovely dude!
He has been integral in the development of many musicians around the world through his books, workshops and his own very popular music camp 'The Grappelli/Django Camp' in Holland.
He has played with everyone you could possibly think of in the world of gypsy jazz and swing and continues to perform all over the world with these amazing musicians as well as his own trio. 
Check out Tims lesson series for DC music below...
https://www.dc-musicschool.com/store/in-the-style-of-tim-kliphuis-vol1/
We had a great chat about everything jazz violin plus much more! 

Episode 10-Jason Anick

Jason is an American jazz violinist and composer, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor of jazz violin at Berklee School of music and plays in his own band Rhythm Futur.
We met in London whilst Jason was over for some concerts and workshops, we had a a nice chat about learning to play and getting on in the world of music.
 
The music at the start is Jaytude No. 1 in E minor
 
The outro music is 'Whisper not' by Benny Golson performed by me and my band 'Latchepen'

Episode 9 - Zach Brock

Zach Brock is a jazz violinist, composer and general good guy. Zach could safley be placed in the contemporary jazz camp without raising too much suspicion, he very much has his own sound that could be and has been compared to Jean Luc Ponty, Zbigniew Seifert and John Coltrane. He plays with the Grammy Award wining supergroup Snarky Puppy and has played and recorded with such jazz luminaries as Stanley Clarke, Phil Markowitz, Eric Harland plus a long list of other amazing jazz musicians. We chatted over the internet, Zach is a lovley dude and we really enjoyed chatting with each other. I hope you enjoy listening.
The intro music is 'Tripping Step' from Ada Rovatti Brecker's album Disguise (featuring Zach on Violin obviously)
 
The outro music is 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen

Episode 8 - Joanna Gardner

Joanna Garner is an english violinist based in Holland. She has recently written and self published a book with Tcha Limberger. The book is a method book, mainly for violin that focuses on Tch's approach to the music of Django Reinhardt. Tcha is a real force for good in the world of swing and Django's music so its great that someone like Joanna has decided to help others understand his way of learning and performing this stuff. Joanna was really enjoyable to chat with but we had to cut things a little short due to us both rushing off for gigs around town so we only got about half an hour in.
 
If you would like to buy the book send an email to jogardnerviolin@gmail.com and she will give you more info.
The cost is 30 euros for the book + shipping which is  around 10 euros in Eurpe and 16 euros worldwide. If people email Joanna, she will send them bank details to do a bank transfer. If you want to pay by PayPal then it is slightly more expensive to cover PayPal fees.
 
with Paypal it's 41.50 euros to Europe and 48 euros worldwide.
 
The music at the beginning is Joanna playing 'Bye Bye Blues' with Duved Dunayevsky from their album due out soon....
There is also a little but of Tchas recording with Lollo Meier playing Dinnette from the album Rosas.
 
The music at the end is my band Latchepen playing 'Whisper Not' by Benny Golson from our album 'Love Letters'
 
 

Episode 7-Alexandre Tripodi

https://www.lesviolonsdebruxelles.be/
 
Alexandre Tripodi is a Belgian violinist based in Brussells. He is connected to Tcha Limberger, one of the first guests on the podcast, Alexandre was taught in part by by Tcha and is now an integeral part of Tcha's band 'Les Violons de Bruxelles'. Alexandre also plays in Fapy Lafertin's newest quartet and with many other musicians all over the country and beyond. 
We caught up over a Facebook messenger call so we have some slight issues with latency, this causes a little bit of chatting over each other but other than that, this is a nice smooth interview. Alexandre is a loveley chap and we seem to have a few things in common in our musical background and our approach, this interview is full of nice ideas and helpul ways of looking at learning jazz. Hope you enjoy.
 
The intro music is a little jam that Alexandre recorded in his home studio
 
The outro music is 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen

Episode 6-Daniel John Martin

Daniel John Martin is a name synonamous with parisian jazz and jazz manouche. Daniel plays with many of the top guitarists on the scene and is an amazing musician. Anyone who has spent time checking out any of the gypsy jazz coming from paris will have seen videos of Daniels regular gig and jam session at Aux Petit Joueurs, it boasts some of the top players in the world making a regular appearance to play with Daniel.
We hooked up at St Pancras station in London while Danile had an hour to spare between the Eurostar and his train to Liverpool. Daniel was very enjoyable to interview and we covered many bases. Check it out...
 
The music at the beginning is 'Martinique' by Didier Lockwood from Daniels upcmoming album with Romane
The outro music is Benny Golsons 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen

Episode 5 - Ola Kvernberg

Ola Kvernberg is a Norweigan violinist. If you like gypsy jazz, you may know him from the album 'Angelo is back in town' with Angelo Debarre. Even in those early recordings I feel it is clear he had a progressive voice, he does not stick to the usual 'violinistic' techniques and lines but has his own sound and approach to the changes...
Ola writes alot of music nowadays, much of it is alot closer to EDM than swing or gypsy jazz. I caught up with Ola when he was performing in London at Ronnie Scotts with the Tronheim Orchestra. We really were rushed as our schedules only just matched up for an hour and we had difficulty finding anywhere quiet. We opted for the park down the way from Ronnies so the sound quality is not amazing and there is alot of background noise. Aside from these difficulties, Ola was great to chat to and is a lovely dude, I hope you enjoy listening....
 
The music at the beginning is 'Harlots House' from Ola Kvernbergs album 'The Mechanical Fair'
The outro music is Benny Golsons 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen

Episode 4- Christiaan Van Hemert

www.christiaanvanhemert.com/
 
Christiaan is the violinist for the Rosenberg Trio, he is based in Holland and he is an amazing player!
In my opinion, Christiaan is one of the leading exponents of the grappelli style, in particular the early Grappelli style. Christiaan has really found a way to emulate the way Stephane played when he was playing with Django, but  has done this whilst still keeping his own unique sound and style.
Christiaan is also a keen teacher, he has many intructional videos online and he can be found doing workshops and lessons at pretty much every Django festival around the world.
We chatted over skype and recorded our own audio so this episode has quite nice sound quality. We found ourselves covering a range of different topics surrounding jazz, learning music and improvising. This is a great interview to listen to if you are working on your jazz playing or looking for an approach to learning to improvise. Christiaan was the perfect interviewee and we had a lot of fun!
 
The  music at the start is Christiaans  ‘Sure Gamble’ featuring Stochelo Rosenberg from his album 'Times Up'
 
(The outro music is Benny Golsons 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen)

Episode 3- Scott Tixier

www.scott-tixier.com
 
Scott Tixier is a french violinist based in New York. In my opinion he is one of the violinists helping to push the ‘jazz violin cause’ on to the modern jazz scene. The list of jazz musicians he has or still does play with is large and star studded. This list includes Kenny Barron, Chris Potter, Dave Douglas, Tigran Hamasyan, Maceo Parker and Charnett Moffett (whom he was playing with in London when we met). He has also worked with influential pop artists such as Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Ariana Grande and Christina Aguilera.
 
We didnt have loads of time to record this interview as it was difficult to find a good slot when we were both free whilst Scott was in town. As we only had a little bit of time we had to record as quickly as possible so we did it in his hotel lobby with a zoom recorder, apologies for the sound quality and the shorter episode than usual. There are some moments when the businessmen around us talk a little loud on their conference calls so you may be able to hear them!
 
The  music at the start is Scott Tixiers ‘Maze Walker’ from his most recent album ‘Cosmic Adventure’
 
(The outro music is Benny Golsons 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen)

Episode 2-Chris Garrick

www.chrisgarrick.com
 
Christian Garrick is an improvising violinist, a composer and a bandleader. He is active on the international concert circuit and on the London studio session scene. He is a professor of jazz and non-classical violin at three of London’s major music conservatoires.
He has worked with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Nigel Kennedy, Julian Joseph, Bireli Lagrene, Dolly Parton, All About Eve, Van Morrison, Luka Bloom, Martin Taylor, Brian Ferry & Caro Emerald. He has made tours of the Far East and Australia with guitarist John Etheridge in a tribute to Stephane Grappelli and in 2001 he toured Israel with Dame Cleo Laine and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. His performance at the Genius of the Violin Festival in 2004 led to invitations to perform Piazzolla's Seasons with Barry Wordsworth at the Brighton Dome and then in London, at the Royal Festival Hall, in 2008. He has toured and recorded extensively with Parisian guitar virtuoso Angelo Debarre and is a member of Alec Dankworth's Spanish Accents.  He formed the band Spirit O’ Stephane to celebrate the music of Grappelli. He works frequently in film and television for composers such as Danny Elfman, Anne Dudley, Howard Shore, George Fenton, Rachel Portman, Stephen Warbeck, Mark Thomas and Rob Lane.
 
I sat and chatted with Chris in the house he was staying in just outside of London. We covered mainly his musical upbringing by his jazz pianist father Michael Garrick and his outlook on music and life in general! Chris is a lovley dude and I had a great time chatting with him. Hope you enjoy listening.
 
 
The intro music  is Garrick and David Gordon playing 'Broadway/Afternoon in Paris' (William-Henri-Woode/John Lewis) From their album Paper Jam.
The outro music is Benny Golsons 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen

Episode 1-Tcha Limberger

Tcha Limberger is one of the most important figures in the music of the Carpathian Basin and a leading figure in the world of Gypsy jazz. His nurturing approach to teaching almost forgotten traditional musics has invited unparalleled praise worldwide from professionals and public alike. Critics remarking on his achievements have claimed he is ’entirely made of music’, ‘The Polymath king of Gypsy music’, whilst musician colleagues refer to him as ‘the fifth element’.Born into a renowned Belgian family of Manouche musicians, Limberger grew up in a world of the Gypsy swing style of Django Reinhardt, and over the years has collaborated with many of its leading performers, including the celebrated Fapy Lafertin. His eclectic musical tastes, interests and passions were formed from early childhood with his first solo concerts singing Flamenco whilst accompanying himself on guitar were aged just eight. He has an ongoing fascination and love for traditional music from the world over.
 
I met with Tcha in London whilst he was in town playing some gigs with 'The Kamao Quartet'. We chatted for over an hour, Tcha was a perfect first interviewee for me as he has so much information and a great outlook on music in general! Hope you enjoy.
 
(The music at the start is Tcha warming up and sounding great!)
 
(The outro music is Benny Golsons 'Whisper Not' recorded by me and my band Latchepen)