Really tickled to discover somebody making an in-depth study of the chord melody style of my favorite guitarist, Allan Reuss. I've long been an avid admirer of both his approach to soloiing and his rhythm work. The man was the big band and small group guitarist nonpareil. ... Marvelous job!
Thanks Jonathan for such a great and valuable lesson on the playing style of Allan Reuss! This video is so chocked-full of great information, I took the liberty of time-marking and breaking down the various parts of the lesson (Click on Read More and see below). Note to other guitarists: These marks do not replace the need to watch the entire video! I highly recommend guitarists interested in this style watch the entire video a few times before breaking it down to the time-marks provided below. Jonathan covers the history, methods and thinking that goes into the Reuss style. A thorough understanding of these points help to thread these lesson points together and makes the time-marked breakdowns more useful. On the Sunny Side of the Street 0:56 (Sunny Side of the Street SOLO - 1:18) Rose Room Etude 4:29 Example of Triad “box” 5:25 Limits to number of notes in a Triad 6:21 Examples of Sliding and Trills 6:48 Interlude 1 (from I’m Beginning to See the Light) 8:20 Interlude 1 breakdown 9:32 Interlude 2 10:36 Interlude 2 breakdown 11:01 All Of Me 13:38 Example from If I Could Be With You Tonight 15:38 Breakdown of If I Could Be With You Tonight example 16:25 Example of Bye Bye Blues opening by JS 17:34 Breakdown of above BBBlues opening 17:45 Bye Bye Blues Opening Alan Reuss way explained 18:03 Example of Alan Reuss way 18:20 Breakdown of example of Alan Reuss way 18:38 Honeysuckle Rose 20:36 (Honeysuckle Rose SOLO 21:19)
THANK YOU, JONATHAN! The chordal concepts with that fluid melody line remain a thrilling work for swing (and Reuss delivers). The details on the dynamics and position / voicing are THE challenge for getting a better performance. AND you give this gift performance with an intelligent and understandable delivery! - thank you for your generosity!
As an electric archtop player now exploring the sounds/possibilities of acoustic archtop jazz guitar and it's aspects of chord-soloing, I find this video a great place to begin my studies! I'm very grateful for this video you've made. I can't make my Gibson L48 sound quite as authentic as I hope to - soon!
Loads of Freddie Green material on You Tube but little on the greatest of all Swing Rhythm Guitarists,the incomparable Mr Allan Reuss.Very well done and much more please!A little on Carman Mastren would be appreciated if at all possible.
A fellow student in our barry harris classes (with chris parks) turned me onto you sir. Killin stuff…i know this vid is old…ive also watched some recent ones and subbed. Cheers!
Great tuition and insight into this style of guitar and the genius Allan Reuss.I had only heard his name watching a Tommy Harkenrider lesson.cheers Vin U.K.
Hey Jonathon is the intro you play for Sunny side of the street over the last 4 bars of the progression. Starting on C minor? ( using Eb as a sub for it ) ? Great video I learned a lot, thanks.
Sorry I got that mixed up... to me it sounds like { Cmin7/F7 } { Fm7/Bb7 } { Turn } { Around } would that be correct?. I recognize the turn around in the last 2 bars but unsure of what the first 2 bars would be.
inspiring playing! Never knew this style had a name, thanks for introduction to Allan. I have a question: is there an analogous style/name/player associated with the big band era style of fast swing rhythm comping where the chords are all on the downbeat but there are passing melody lines that move through them giving you multiple forms of a given chord that follow or support a melody line moving through? I want to learn that kind of rhythm comping (makes me think of andy griffith theme song for a known example)
Can you recommend the first 3 or so books I should buy to start learning to play this style of music? Thanks I really enjoy the different guitars and songs you play!
I am pretty familiar with the Django style, but this footage really handed me some great other insights Thanks Jonathan. Greetz from the Wonderingdutchman.
I just found your vids and really enjoy everything I'm hearing and seeing (and trying to learn)---- but I'm kind of confused....I have the same surname as Allan Reuss, but my family's pronunciation is still in accordance with its original German origin of my great great grandfather (i. e. sounds like "Royce") ; is "Roos" the way Allan Reuss pronounced it?
I like the looks and sound of this guitar best so far, compared to the '32 and '39 models. I like the clean, no-position-mark fingerboard, not to mention the beautifully finished top.
Corey Bartos I see it's been 8 months, so you may have gotten a guitar by now. I bought a Loar LH-700, spruce top, flame maple back, sides and neck. All solid woods, very pretty. About $1500, certainly not cheap but half the price of other name brands. It sounds great, loud, good bark. Rob Mckillup has some great videos on here. They also make a mahogany back, sides, neck model that sounds a little woodier for about $1000.
I don't see the links you mentioned. Love your playing, I have one of your CDs. I play some plectrum and really enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting!
at 8:20 I've been intrigued by Harry James BTSTL for years. And I never could figure out the intro or other interludes until you showed me - but I think you're slightly off on the opening phrase. In the intro, Reuss plays one note, then the (F) chord, followed by two single notes in and then followed by the pattern you show . And while he's playing an F shape - given that the true pattern of the first shape is: C F-chord G C And if you agree with that - then maybe the first shape is actually a barre across the D G B strings at the 10th fret. Not sure about that last bit - but I'm sure the first phase is played as I've listed. Thanks for all you've shared.
Hey Jon - I just stumbled across this posting you made back in Feb 2017 - on JGO - it's a great review of L-5 copies. ------- 02-05-2017, 03:36 PM To actually answer the OP's question instead of joking around.... I own a 1932 Gibson L-5. I played an Eastman 805 not cutaway for 10 years before that. I have borrowed and used several Loar LH-600 and LH-700 guitars. The Loar comes the directly closest, and is the lowest price point. Bonus points if you can spring for the 700 series, as they tend to be even nicer sounding and with better QC. The Eastman guitars, especially if you can find a non-cutaway example, can sound even better, but they are X-braced, unlike an actual pre-1935 16" L-5, and so they aren't exactly the same thing. Either way, set up is key to making them sing acoustically and project. Also, they really do benefit from being "played in", because the woods actually do open up. If you can swing it, sure a 16" L-7, L-10, L-12 or f-hole L-4 would be the "literally" the next best thing, but I'm guessing even those would be more than you want to spend. An old L-50 or L-48 might sound good, but they weren't made to be professional instruments the way the nicer Gibson's were, and I've never found them to have the same projection and feel. If you have access to a non-cutaway 16" Eastman 805, properly set up and played in, that can be a really stellar instrument that can easily hold its own to real vintage archtops. (FYI, the 605 has a mahogany back, and that is a different animal, way warmer, less bark and bite) Since Eastman non-cutaways are harder to find and more expensive, you really can't go wrong with a Loar. The QC is basically as good most Chinese-factory made instruments, which is to say "not perfect", and there is the occasional lemon out there. But, still, with a proper set up you really can make a Loar sound fantastic. The problem is the old "apples to oranges" thing. Either an Eastman or a Loar is basically more of an "apple" like an L-5 than anything else beside a vintage guitar or something luthier-built in that style (re:expensive!). They aren't as good of an "apple" as an old L-5 is, but a really nice "orange" is an even worse "apple", if you get my drift. There are literally NO other options. Forget a Godin 5th Avenue, or a pressed wood topped Gretsch, and especially those new Epiphones (those are the most evil because they look so awesomely 30's, but they don't have anything like the sound of even a Loar or Eastman). I'd argue that even the laminated back and sides of a LH-300 still sound MORE like an old L-5 than any kind of "fake" non-carved top acoustic archtop. In fact, I've played a properly set up LH-300, and it was perfectly useful acoustic archtop, even if it didn't quite sound as "nice" as my L-5. Jonathan Stout www.campusfive.com/swingguitarblog Our New Album, "Spreadin' Rhythm Around" is AVAILABLE NOW campusfive.bandcamp.com
I will add that an L50 can and does sound very good. Note that unlike the L5 and the other higher end Gibson archtops, it lacks the raised/cantilevered fingerboard. I assume that affects projection and volume, but they do have a nice sound.
