Randy Stein

About 6 years ago I decided to dedicate myself to developing a way to play and perform in the swing jazz style of Django Reinhardt, the famed swing European jazz guitarist. A few years ago I was lucky enough to plug into a weekly gypsy jazz jam session. While the EC was at first a bit of an oddity in this musical venue I slowly received acceptance and began to get offers to gig. That led to Buco Cavar, a well known jazz guitarist in the area, inviting me to be part of DC Ambiance and we've been performing our arrangements ever since. DC Ambiance is performing Wednesday December 18th at the Bossa Bistro Lounge from 8:00 - 10:00. This is a major DC music venue. There is a small cover charge for the musicians. Come swing in the holiday season with us and support live music. Will be a fun night for sure!

DC Ambiance will perform at Grounded Coffee Shop 6919 Telegraph Road Alexandria, VA https://groundedcoffeeshop.com/ Saturday Dec 7th 1:00-3:00 PM Open to the public Great food and drink Come swing with us Bill Parmentier and Buco - Guitar Randy Stein - English Concertina

Brilliant

Sway Performed in Concert by DC Ambiance Buco and Bill Parmentier - Guitars Shawn Simon - Upright Bass Randy Stein - English Concertina https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/sway-performed-by-dc-ambiance-in-concert-7-7-18

Nice Chords. I have my own version I used to play as well. I should dust it off and revisit it. Cheers

There is some good info and advice in all of these. But you're starting at the middle. Rent or buy a cheap instrument and learn some music you want to play. Take some lessons, go to sessions. When you decide to upgrade your instrument, and if you bought from a reputable place that has a buy back program, get the next best instrument in you price range. Just saying...

So my suggestion has nothing to do with a video. I suggest learning and practicing arpeggios in each key. Major, minor, and add the dominant 7th. Once you are comfortable with the fingering you now have your chords structures. Later you can add in diminished chording as well.

Written by the great musette accordion player, Tony Murena. Passion was performed by DC Ambiance in Concert July 6, 2019. Buco and Bill Parmentier - Acoustic Gypsy Guitars, Shawn Simon - Upright Bass, Randy Stein - English Concertina. https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/passion-a-gypsy-waltz-by-tony-murena

I'll get you in for half price then.

Buco, the lead player, says his guitar is made by Risto Ivanovski. It's a Selmer Jazz model copy. He uses Optima brand, Hot Club line. Argentine Savarez are the most commonly used though. Both the guitar and the strings are specific to the genre but that's not to say that this guitar wouldn't work well as all around acoustic guitar. His strings are silver steel as most gypsy jazz players tend to use. Bill says his guitar is a Shelly Park. She's a luthier in Vancouver. His strings he uses are Argies like most others use.

This is from yesterdays rehearsal with DC Ambiance in preparation for Saturdays concert. The tune is Blue Drag written in 1935 by Django Reinhardt. https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/blue-drag-practice-7-3-19 Moved from previous posting

This coming Friday, June 28th from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Jim Besser and Randy Stein (Otherwise known as 2Many Buttons) will perform on stage at the FDA Farmers Market in Washington, DC located at 12th and Independence. Jim and I play an eclectic array of tunes ranging from tangos and Morris to old timey and jazz to French and Scandi and then we branch out from there. Stop by and say hello.

DC Ambiance - An Evening of Gypsy Jazz When: 06 Jul 2019 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Location: Seekers Church Channeling Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, and the legendary Quintette du Hot Club, DC Ambiance is a “Gypsy jazz” quartet bringing together talent from Puget Sound to Yale to Sarajevo. Buco Cavar (guitar) studied jazz guitar under Tony do Rosario and Alfonso Ponticelli; Bill Parmentier (guitar), influenced by DjangoFest Northwest, studied under jazz guitarists Robin Nolan and Lollo Meier in Europe; Randy Stein (concertina) has performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and on John Lennon’s last album, Double Fantasy; and bassist Shawn Simon has played with Sage Jazz and the Ashley Mitchell Band. At Seekers Church, 276 Carroll St. NW, Washington DC 20012 (Metro: Takoma). $20; members $10. https://www.fsgw.org/event-3448147

I was recently invited to perform at a house concert with the gypsy jazz trio Mid-Atlinatic Swing. We had one rehearsal that mostly involved various kinds of beer. A couple weeks later we performed 2 sets on the fly. Bei Mir Bist Du Shein was written for the Yiddish Theater in 1932 by Jacob Jacobs. Translated it means "to me you're beautiful". This was first time we played this togther.

I was recently invited to perform at a house concert with the gypsy jazz trio Mid-Atlinatic Swing. We had one rehearsal that mostly involved various kinds of beer. A couple weeks later we performed 2 sets on the fly. Manha De Carnaval was written in 1959 by Luiz Bonfa for the movie Black Orfeus. This was the first time we performed this tune togther and the qulity of sound isn't great but man did I have a lot of fun!