Intro to Oscar Aleman - Greg Ruby
Swing Pass
Friday the 18th
Noon-1:00pm
All levels
Oscar Alemán’s consummate technique and impeccable swing reach back to the earliest days of Hot Club jazz. Even before Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli recorded their first notes as the Quintette of the Hot Club of France, Alemán was already an in-demand guitarist on the 1930’s Parisian jazz scene—leading Josephine Baker’s band, accompanying star accordionists and performing with ex-patriot American jazz musicians – even Duke Ellington wanted to hire him to join his orchestra. Without question, Ellington was correct when he remarked about Alemán, “this cat has roots.”
This workshop will deepen your understanding of Oscar Alemán’s brilliance and add new ideas to your guitar playing. Using transcriptions direct from the original recordings, instructor Greg Ruby will lead the class through a selection of Aleman's repertoire to examine the way he interpreted melodies, accompanied other soloists and used syncopated rhythms in his solos. All written music will be provided in standard notation, tablature and with chord diagrams.
