Jazz Violinist Reacts: Augustin Hadelich plays Jazz 

It’s tough, being the one on the tube which dares to take apart and criticize someone like Augustin Hadelich…. I’m a huge fan of both Augustin and Grapelli, and am sure glad that I’m not the one comparing them to each other 😉 Saw Grapelli live twice, and nothing compares to the man….. (here I go ;) He simply was mindblowing. His charm, wit, mental mobility and flexibility on the violin, paired with amazing technique, a razor sharp mind and endless creativity, left you completely gobsmacked. And the ease with which he did his thing…! Truly a life filled to the brim with jazz, and you could tell by his personality, the way he addressed the audience, -always with humour and a twinkle in his eye. Us classically trained violinists are like poor, cagebound birds, compared to a real jazz player. Wings clipped, terrified of almost everything, lest we make ‘a mistake’…. At least that’s what I get from myself and a lot of other classically trained violinists. Augustin dipped his toes into jazz (he’s played some other semi-jazzy, bluesy things too), and I like the charm and sweetness he has in playing this piece. Quite inventive and interesting too. But yeah, like so many genres, jazz is a complete universe unto itself, and you’d better be prepared for a long, long journey…. Grapelli had an extraordinary life. All of it infused his playing, and I feel NO ONE can ever compare to him. But classical players have tried their hand at jazz, through the ages, and they probably have their fans. Plus they’re getting a taste of just how different as a person you have to become, think and feel, to be a good jazz musician. My two cents only ☺️

If only the video was in sync!

I enjoyed watching this Matt, thanks!

Ok ok ok...why not just enjoying the great music they are making. They sound both amazing 😍❤️❤️

can't do all that jazz improv if you're recording from separate locations and stitching a video together y'know

I understand that we are giving postive and negative feedback for this video but I still feel like it comes across as overly gatekeepy. There is definitely a lot you learn in knowing a solo by heart and not needing sheet music but saying that there is “no point in doing it while reading” is forgetting that the players are just trying to have fun experimenting in a new style, not necessarily trying to “ build chops”. Along with you saying that they “should have put more work in before putting out this video” i hope that this reaction video does not discourage anyone from getting into jazz by doing it the “wrong” way. As a jazz musician it makes me happy that people are even trying out style and I think we should be more welcoming if we want to continue to attract more people to it. Sorry for the long comment

He said in a reply under the video that they wanted to essentially recreate the recording because they really loved it? something along those lines. He replied this under a comment criticizing on this very point lmao, the fact that they're just using a transcription. In that why I dont think it was ever intended to be a true attempt at jazz.

A classical violinist who loves Augustine, this is a take I can respect. As someone who loves jazz, it is kind of cringe when I see classical musicians try to “do jazz”- as much as I can respect great classical virtuosos trying to “branch out” but I can greatly appreciate the honest critique from a real jazz violinist- as someone who listens to more jazz than classical music these days, this was a very interesting take, and I’m sorry for all the pretentious criticism of people who don’t know wtf they’re talking about and just want to defend our king, because truthfully in the classical world, he’s probably the best right now, (Hilary Hahn maybe close second, and technically speaking James Ehnes as well, but god damn Augustine just has that soul in his sound) still doesn’t make him a competent jazz interpreter though😅

The last head, he appears to be playing semiquaver swing, rather than triplet swing. This really grates against the triplet swing the guitsrist is playing.

I have a CD of a collaboration of Grappelli and Menuhin, and saw a behind-the-scenes interview of the recording, there was so much mutual respect and admiration between two musicians with very different backgrounds and styles. Menuhin's contribution probably made the music a lot less "jazzy" but it was still a really interesting and beautiful combination.

Plenty of jazz guitarists play finger style.. I find that a weird criticism. Your right about the flaccid swing feel they have though

There is mprov in the classical tradition. It's called cadenzas. A composer realizes a gifted soloist might have a different interpretation, and adds a section where the orchestra drops out a it's now only the soloist and the theme. Agustín has great cadenzas. He has also played famous transcribed cadenzas. At times a gifted soloist might scribe and play from their own cadenza. That would be slow motion improv?

I don’t think he did a terrible job considering he’s classically trained! I’m classically trained and now learning jazz violin-I’m like 0.01% making progress 😂 it’s something though, it’s a WHOLE different ball park. I’m certain if he had the proper training, he can definitely learn to be good; it’s as someone told me, it’s learning a whole different language since you’re learning a new skill. Yes, while you’re classically trained, you already have certain skills you can use, but you’re learning different things. Unfortunately his rhythm is all over the place so it’s hard to count even where 1 is (that’s just me), and his bowing is very classical (swing doesn’t use that much). A lot of classical musicians just need the proper training for jazz violin. 😅 I feel like even Ithzak Perlman would be fantastic at it. Even Menuhin struggled with improvisation-he was an amazing violinist. It’s a shame that classical violinists these days aren’t taught much of improvisation.

I feel like while trying to make a point about them missing the point, you missed the point of his video. Look at the date- recorded in May 2020. I hardly think Augustin was trying to make any point about jazz, but was trying to keep music, any music going by collaborating across the internet to colleagues who want to try something new during lockdown. He has a whole series about it, learning how to record himself, answering student questions, and yes, experimenting in one video with the minor swing. It’s not so serious.

I wouldn't bag their efforts at all. Something that isn't said, is that in jazz you will sound like you and no one else. It is music that comes from within and it is as individual as personality. Augustin doesn't swing like Stephan Grappelli and neither does anyone else. Augustin has classical precision and articulation and Stephan has jazz articulation (which is incredible). If you listen to Grappelli play Bach, he can't quite stop his swing articulation. I doubt that Augustin and Mak were reading btw. Both have phenomenal memory and were probably just watching the screen as it looks like an online collaboration.

no one's gonna say you're out of tune: you're playing jazz!

I am still bowled over by Hadelich's virtuosity. But I am classically trained.

2 ladies are walking down the street and as they pass by a park they see a frog sitting in the grass looking up at them. Suddenly the frog hops over, looks up and says,”How’re you doing ladies?” They are both amazed. Then the frog says,”If one of you will kiss me I will turn into the world’s greatest jazz violinist.” One lady bends down, scoops up the frog and drops him into her rather large purse. The other lady says,”Aren’t you going to kiss him?” She says,”Are you kidding? I can make a hell of a lot more money with a talking frog.”

100% agree. Impressive technique but wierd stabby swing feel. I've played in traditional British brass bands and it felt exactly the same when we did any swing pieces. They are thinking metrically rather than listening and feeling.

They're both stiff as a board. It hurts.

It's definitely Steph's solo but the guy can't swing - you're too kind. As Steph once said about Menuhin after their first meeting "three bars into Lady Be Good who's the maestro now?" In return Menuhin said he'd love to able to improvise but it just wasn't given to him. He should listen to Florin Niculescu to see how it's done.

How come jazz players don’t need to play in tune- or all the notes on the fiddle? I’m sure he could do better but jeez- criticizing him for playing octaves? I’m assuming jazz players don’t play in octaves because it’s too hard, not because it can’t be integrated into a jazz style

i dissagree. Augustin is for me the best classical violinist and also his jazz is much better than other performanses that i listened on yt He is the king of violin(jazz or classic doesnt metter)also i rally wanna see your playing of jazz, if its good then talk

It doesn’t swing the same.

Reading jazz is a contradiction. I left at this point. In fact, reading any performance loses 90% of the music to me.

Not bad for a classical violinist. I've heard significantly worse jazz from classical violinists.

The rhythm... oof.

I love his playing but this starts out horrible. 30 seconds in that was terrible.

2 ladies are walking down the street and as they pass by a park they see a frog sitting in the grass looking up at them. Suddenly the frog hops over, looks up and says,”How’re you doing ladies?” They are both amazed. Then the frog says,”If one of you will kiss me I will turn into the world’s greatest jazz violinist.” One lady bends down, scoops up the frog and drops him into her rather large purse. The other lady says,”Aren’t you going to kiss him?” She says,”Are you kidding? I can make much more money with a talking frog.”