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<\/p>\nTo most listeners, the musical connection between jazz manouche<\/i> (also known as \u201cgypsy jazz\u201d) and Appalachian bluegrass isn\u2019t immediately obvious. But Western North Carolina sextet The JackTown Ramblers explore the region on the Venn Diagram where those styles intersect.<\/p>\n
The members of the group are well positioned to understand and explain the relationship between those American and European musical traditions. The JackTown Ramblers have earned recognition for their prowess in Appalachian musical idioms, with four first-place spots and three second-place awards at the 2018 Ellenboro Fiddlers Convention. And the traditional and jazz training of the musicians provided a background that helps them build on that connection.<\/p>\n
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Bassist-vocalist Michael Ramsey focuses on the fact that music in both styles often eschews percussion. \u201cWithout drums,\u201d he observes, \u201cthe players must focus on each other for the many feels and fills of the overall group rhythm.\u201d Guitarist-vocalist Shannon Leasure points to both styles\u2019 placing a high value on improvisation and interplay. \u201cWhen you listen to a good bluegrass band and\/or gypsy jazz group, you observe musical sensibility that\u2019s supportive of the overall music endeavor,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Wiseman (mandolin and vocals) modestly downplays the novelty of combining jazz manouche and bluegrass. \u201cThe lines separating them have become more and more blurred, as many artists nowadays have such easy access to listen to so much music,\u201d he says. \u201cTunes from both genres have crossed over and are frequently played or known by artists in both categories.\u201d<\/p>\n
JackTown Ramblers banjoist-vocalist Brett Setzer agrees: \u201cBoth styles of music can draw references from one another and be played from back yards to the White House,\u201d he says. But h goes on to expresses a thoughtful view on the subject. \u201cBoth [genres] are drawing from the soul of the player,\u201d he says. \u201cNo matter if it is a professional or a beginner, they feel what they play in their being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramsey says that the work of David Grisman serves as a partial model for what his band does. \u201cGrisman began in the bluegrass realm, as defined by Bill Monroe\u2019s mid-\u201940s band,\u201d he says. \u201cThen he branched out into a more jazz oriented style, though he still visits the bluegrass world.\u201d The JackTown Ramblers aim to meld those styles as well.<\/p>\n
The group brings its rural, mountain and decidedly American sensibility to jazz material. Wiseman admits that the group collectively \u201cwants to stand out a little by plugging in some gypsy jazz and more swing style tunes to our bluegrass-based sets.\u201d Setzer elaborates upon that approach: \u201cWe take a song that the listener may have never heard in a swingy, gypsy jazz way and we throw it on them,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s like fishing. We throw the bait out, and we bring in a lot of different kinds of fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leasure reflects upon the musical values common to both styles. \u201cThe most common characteristic is a musical respect that encourages skill development, enabling one to play the traditional melody of a song,\u201d he says. And tradition combines with the new in a JackTown Ramblers performance. \u201cWe rely on the foundation of songs and tunes written by the earlier generations of players within these styles,\u201d says Michael Ramsey. \u201cAnd we also try to bring some original songs and instrumentals to our performances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRespect for the traditions of any style of music is critical,\u201d notes Gabriel Wiseman. \u201cBut without someone pushing the envelope a little, things can stagnate somewhat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are influenced by so many traditions,\u201d says Brett Setzer. \u201cBut the main tradition is this: we play the music how we feel it, and how we hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To most listeners, the musical connection between jazz manouche (also known as \u201cgypsy jazz\u201d) and Appalachian bluegrass isn\u2019t immediately obvious. But Western North Carolina sextet The JackTown Ramblers explore the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,41,42],"tags":[4554],"class_list":["post-21123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americana","category-interview","category-jazz","tag-jacktown-ramblers","cat-6-id","cat-41-id","cat-42-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21126,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21123\/revisions\/21126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}