Isn't She Lovely - Sylvain Luc & Biréli Lagrène
Stevie Wonder all jazzed-up!
Hey Jazzsters,
Time to go a little off-piste today.
You’re going to see just versatile jazz can be when borrows from other genres.
Today’s track:
Isn't She Lovely - Sylvain Luc & Biréli Lagrène
Artists: Sylvain Luc & Biréli Lagrène
Album: Duet
Year: 2000
Olly’s Take
I went through a phase of learning to play the guitar.
I call it a “phase” but it lasted for years, in my 20s.
I even got my jazz guitar to a point where I played a couple of gigs! (Badly)
But I think I underestimated the challenge of learning a new instrument as an adult...
There’s a kind of dexterity you develop when you grow up playing an instrument as a child. A bit like growing up speaking a second language. The instrument becomes like an extension of you.
(That’s absolutely not to say that you can’t do it, it’s just that I grew up playing the piano, so it was always painfully obvious to me how bad I was at the guitar!)
Anyway, during my guitar phase, my Japanese friend Taka played me this album.
I loved it immediately.
It’s soulful, joyful, and every other kind of ~full you can imagine.
Who am I listening to?
Sylvain Luc & Biréli Lagrène are two French guitarists.
I confess I’d never heard of them before discovering this album, but that’s the great thing about the world of music… there’s always more to discover!
And that’s also the point of this newsletter!
What’s the music?
Luc and Lagrène joined forces to record this album, appropriately titled Duo.
Guitar duo (with no other instruments) isn’t something you hear every day, but it’s common enough in the guitar world.
In this album, they’re just playing their favourite tunes, and clearly having a great time doing so!
I recommend exploring the whole album if you have time.
This particular track needs no introduction — a cover of a Stevie Wonder classic!
3 things to listen for
Great arrangement
From the funky intro, to the simple rendition of the tune, Luc and Lagrène do a fantastic job of holding on to the joy of the original tune.
Improvisation
Keeping on the theme from recent newsletters — what makes this jazz?
Isn’t it pop? R&B? Or however you define Stevie Wonder’s style.
Well, the thing that places this clearly in the realm of jazz is the fact that there’s plenty of improvisation throughout.
Listen from 1:31 for the first guitar solo, and from 2:32 when they swap over.
Rhythmic tension
This has been a bit of a theme in the last few newsletters.
This is isn’t a major feature of the recording, but at 3:00 you’ll hear both musicians building tension by using some interesting rhythmic devices - interesting in light of the examples I showed you in the last few days.
As an experiment - see if you can keep tapping the rhythm throughout this section, without getting thrown off.
Start tapping your foot 10 seconds before, and then keep tapping at the same speed, even as the rhythm gets funky.
Keep it up and you should find the musicians rejoin the correct rhythm a few moments later. (Hint: it resolves at about 3:07)
Share the music!
That’s all for today.
Please email me back and let me know which bits of the post you find most useful, so I know what to do more of!
And, lastly, if you know someone who would appreciate this, please share this newsletter with them using the button below…
Until tomorrow,
Olly Richards
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