# Jazz Guitar: a bit of virtuosity and swing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123 "2011-12-05T13:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/1 "2011-12-05T13:18:11Z")
[http://guitarsquid.com/Video/tommy-emmanuel-and-frank-vignola-swing-42.html](http://guitarsquid.com/Video/tommy-emmanuel-and-frank-vignola-swing-42.html) Check out the link above. Tommy Emmanuel and Frank Vignola are a couple of smokin’ players, delivering (along with an unseen bass player) a jumpin’ version of an old Django Reinhardt tune. Keep watching - the chops get pretty amazing… Pretty funny - Vignola on the left is playing a custom-made hand-built guitar worth thousands; Emmanuel is playing a Kalamazoo, a guitar built by Gibson in the 30’s to be a cheaper brand; probably sold for $35 or so. Both sound great. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/2 "2011-12-05T15:23:46Z")
Excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/3 "2011-12-05T16:00:39Z")
Good stuff; I love both those guys. I’ve seen Frank Vignola perform live (with Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing Trio) and he is dazzling. He can play the lightning runs required of the Django style, but he also has impeccable taste and his solos say something. It’s not all technique. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/4 "2011-12-05T16:06:10Z")
Sweet. Too bad they can’t enjoy themselves while they play! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/5 "2011-12-06T04:14:20Z")
Yeah, that was my thought: they’re having a blast. Great stuff. So wait, there wasn’t just an “unseen bass player”, in the pan at the end there were two guys: that bass player and what looked like another guitarist, I guess…? I thought that song sounded fuller than just those two guys, there was somebody comping in the background. No? ETA: looked again: yep, another guitar player. Which takes nothing away from the two front guys, by any stretch. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/6 "2011-12-06T16:15:09Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Yeah, that was my thought: they’re having a blast. Great stuff. > > So wait, there wasn’t just an “unseen bass player”, in the pan at the end there were two guys: that bass player and what looked like another guitarist, I guess…? I thought that song sounded fuller than just those two guys, there was somebody comping in the background. No? ETA: looked again: yep, another guitar player. Which takes nothing away from the two front guys, by any stretch. That’s what I get for not viewing the clip all the way to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/7 "2011-12-08T16:11:03Z")
There are other duets with Tommy on YouTube like [Tommy Emmanuel & Jake Shimabukuro - While my guitar gently weeps](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJfo74Y4rQ) worth looking at. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/8 "2011-12-09T06:12:49Z")
Tommy’s also taking requests from reddit - here’s his acoustic arrangement of [Purple Haze](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apXSU8F8zWs). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/9 "2011-12-09T08:15:16Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Tommy’s also taking requests from reddit - here’s his acoustic arrangement of [Purple Haze](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apXSU8F8zWs). There’s a 2-part thing with Chet: [chet atkins and tommy emmanuel part 1.mpg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI-sMNpQYHQ&feature=related) and [chet atkins and tommy emmanuel part 2.mpg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGpY1SCD2LY&feature=related) The mention in there of Lenny Breau suggests another duet of note: [Tal Farlow and Lenny Breau - Cherokee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxXAw-T5hSs) (shitty sound quality but it makes you want to hear other Lenny (and Tal) clips). Lenny’s harmonics work probably inspired [Tommy Emmanuel - Somewhere Over the Rainbow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ubVGiyAhkY) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-guitar-a-bit-of-virtuosity-and-swing/605123/10 "2011-12-09T12:49:41Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Tommy’s also taking requests from reddit - here’s his acoustic arrangement of [Purple Haze](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apXSU8F8zWs). Wow. That was fun. He’s really the gold standard these days - just worshipped on the acoustic boards…