Bireli Lagrene - Interview (Violin, Electric Guitar, Jaco, Bass, New York)

[@DenisChangMusic]

Here's the intro solo transcribed on Soundslice. Check out my Soundslice courses as well! www.soundslice.com/slices/r3Xkc/

[@DavidRamos-nz4bh]

Thanks for all of your work, love the channel. The perspective is always spot on for those of us who want to truly be good. No short cuts, peace!

[@brianmessemer2973]

For me, Bireli Lagrene is The One. I've watched a lot of videos of his playing. However I'd actually never heard Bireli speaking in English before. I'm blown away by his high fluency and complete comfort in English. Honestly he basically sounds like a native both in (lack of) accent and in vocabulary and use of idiomatic expressions. Most French people who learn English past early childhood speak with a noticeable accent - Bireli's lack of French accent markers is a testament to his incredible ear as a musician, to be able to speak as a native when he's not naturally a native. A true Renaissance man and an absolute master musician. Thank you for doing this interview, Denis!

[@fredpg]

His german is very good too. Man s got a brain on him...

[@christopherhanna5754]

He's an actual musical prodigy genius, so his abilities are far far above average.

[@brianmessemer2973]

@@christopherhanna5754 Absolutely! I saw videos of him in his preteen years - he was certainly a child prodigy and indeed already a guitar master as a teenager. And he never stopped getting better from that time. His musical sensibility is totally off the charts.

[@vincenzo6162]

Yep, you’re right on that! Birelli is still the man. Nobody else played like he played for good reason

[@nicknelson9450]

Check out his Blue Eyes recording...I think you're in for an even bigger surprise. 😉

[@edwardc1788]

Bireli’s ear is so well developed, it’s insane. I was at one of his shows, when someone’s cellphone went off while he was playing a quiet solo. He smiled, and parroted the jingle note for note right there on the spot. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. So when he says he doesn’t know what a 13th chord is, he means that he can’t name the intervals, per se. But he knows what it sounds like in every inversion, and how and when to use it. Same with scales, etc. He knows the fretboard so well, it’s frightening.

[@christinehuismans4443]

When healthy and happy Biréli’s timing is a god-given miracle, it’s as simple as that....a mystery.

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

Great to hear Bireli and in English. Have been a lifetime fan of his music. Thanks for this Denis, it's a gem. Bireli is such a humble guy!

[@Alan-zi2rs]

I met Denis Chang ..... few moons ago @ a workshop @ Wales UK amazing guitarist / musician Denis and Birelli Great interview 🎸🎸🎶🎶🎶👌😎😎

[@label95b87]

Thanks Denis, thanks Birelie. Just a human being playing guitare. Nothing to add. To learn a language and learn a style of music is similar. Once your brain is earing connected, you can go whervever you want. Birelie can speak french, fluently english and german as he can play Gypsy jazz, bebop or jazzfusionbass...

[@ciarantreacymusic]

Bireli's playing with Jaco is some of the greatest electric guitar playing I've ever heard, so fluent and undaunted, a true virtuoso.

[@vince8081]

Bireli est une des plus grand musicien du monde et un des plus grand guitariste et bassiste du monde selon moi. Il faut aussi voir jouer du violon, il est absolument fantastique.

[@Wyrdo999]

This was GREAT! He is unbelievable. I'm convinced he's Django reincarnated. I love ALL his music. The live footage of him with Jaco is incredible. Birelli plays SO free, and effortless, in the fusion style. His technique is stellar!!!

[@Jkaterchannel]

For those wondering, his guitar is a SA2200, a fabulous top-of-the-line semi-acoustic made in Japan by Yamaha.

[@ferencfarkas2729]

Bireli is a genius musician he is music him self .. and also Denis I have so much respect for you, your a real artistic musician 👏 ❤ ..

[@brianmessemer2973]

Oh what what YOU run DC Music School!?!? DC...Denis Chang...duh 🙄 I should have figured this out right away. Sir, sir: THANK YOU SO MUCH. I've seen all the Bireli videos on your DC Music School channel. Every video is a gem 💎 but in particular, Mélodie Au Crépuscule...it's so incredibly moving. Bireli quotes much of Django's solo and yet makes it totally his own. It's truly astonishing.

[@ldgbasstv]

Birelie the Maestro, we love him, thanks Denis.

[@devostm]

Thanks so much for this Denis et Bireli!

[@flavio1960]

Two beautiful souls. What a fantastic interview!

[@pjjmsn]

Bireli, I was at those Fat Tuesdays shows in NYC in 1984 every night except one. I remember you were given your Ovation guitar the 2nd night. I especially remember your solo performances of Rue de Pierre which were completely different each night and your duets with Larry Coryell at the end of the night. I think you played Wave each night with him. You are my favorite guitarist!

[@nicolasguyader3635]

Every time I hear a phrase from Birelli, I think there is no way it could have been said better. He is a true musical poet.

[@Jonjzi]

I know this will sound like a silly nitpicky opinion to have, but I genuinely appreciate that this opening jam didn't end with everyone bursting into laughter for no reason. I feel like that happens in 99% of recordings of jam sessions. Didn't bother me at first but after a while it really started get on my nerves for some reason.

[@vincenzo6162]

Birelli is still the best there is. Kind of underrated because he has great musicianship skills but goes unrecognised in the mainstream music world. But for those who is familiar with the Gypsy jazz world he is still the finest 😁🤙

[@stephencarter5090]

Whoa! What beautiful Birelli playing on guitar AND bass. Reminds me of Wes on 6 string electric bass guitar. Very refreshing interview. Thanks.

[@christopherhanna5754]

Well done sir.. love Bireli. One of the GOATS .

[@paulgibby6932]

Such a nice, talented guy. Hard to believe he taught himself violin. Inspiring.

[@aikido15m]

This is amazing Denis! Thank you Maestro for your wonderful work and dedication!

[@raphaellasne3609]

As a French guy, I'm pleased to hear how fluent Bireli is in the English language. Not so common in my country. Beside being maybe the best living guitarist on the planet, he is a very nice and heartful guy.

[@nicknelson9450]

I imagine it's the same brain wiring of his which gives him the ability to assimilate different languages and musical instruments more easily than most of us ordinary people can. 😉

[@handdancin]

hey says django is in his top 5, id love to hear the other 4! love to hear pat martino shout out too

[@SaccoBelmonte]

Great Video. And Bireli....Ahh Bireli, you're definitely a cool guy. We love you. Denis, I hope you can one day ask him about his version of "Si tu savais" in the gipsy project video and how he either created it or improvised it in the spot. That was an absolute highlight and created some dark magical paganini moment. I haven't seen another video of him playing that song.

[@andymacatack]

Oh hell yeah! Thanks for this Denis

[@alisonCNboy]

I enjoyed.

[@ljljlj1]

I run out of superlatives for Bireli. Wow. Thanks for a great video.

[@alisterrae5822]

What a joy to hear this! Thanks so so much!

[@WawauAdlerJazz]

Thank you Denis for doing this interview with Bireli. 😊👍🍾🥂

[@El-Kurdo]

He is a great guy, thank you Denies.

[@elrafa782]

What ? I forgot how good this man was ! Crazy ! And the bass part ? Pffff speechless. Crazy. Thanks

[@JayJay-v5m]

Found this guy by ear. I was listening to some jazz station not to long ago and a bunch of cats who are famous and huge in jazz played some songs. A song came on that had heart and felt different, i thought it was Django from the electric years. I ran to the phone to see who it was and it was Bireli😮 Fan ever since.

[@fabbro9999]

Great stuff from the legend

[@christinehuismans4443]

very good interview Denis.....Biréli

[@roppitypoppity]

Nice to hear you play electric bass Denni

[@boco1951]

At a jazz festival the one guitarist everyone stops to watch is Bireli!

[@railcar123]

The best guitarist in the world. Yamaha SA-2200 great guitar.

[@Clown321321]

Thank you for the great content! Your channel deserves a lot more subscribers!

[@TheZenguitarguy]

Love what you do!

[@NickGranville]

Thanks Denis, this is a great interview. I like your style - just get to the point and it was clear he felt relaxed the whole time. Cheers

[@jazziergf927]

Thankyou so much Dennis and Bireli love to hear all this kinda chat, isn't best kind of practise gigging anyway ?! Saw Bireli and Babik play at a jazz club south coast UK in the mid eighties.. a special day in my life..

[@fretlessblunder]

Wonderful. Thanks for this great interview. Much appreciated.

[@santir5091]

Amazing. Thank you very much!!

[@martink2791]

Great interview! Thanks for the heads up on the dcmusic price increase btw. Just bought another Bireli and a Boyer lesson. Kiaora from Aotearoa.

[@PaulMcEvoyGuitars]

wow he sounds like such a mellow dude. Great interview Dennis thank you.

[@frankybebop2913]

Thanks for this!

[@grahamb.4447]

Bought his album "Foreign Affairs" back in the day. Great playing, but the production and album (vinyl) quality was the best I have ever heard.

[@Tylervrooman]

thanks for this interview... great stuff

[@jazzlefty]

Gracias, buena entrevista.

[@zorrosg]

Very interesting interview! It also introduced me to your channel, Denis, which has so many great video lessons. Keep it up mate 👍

[@plectroman]

What a gentleman (love the Yankees hat)!

[@moonmelancon]

Super cool video

[@j.garnergtr]

good questions! different angles. nice.

[@zakmartel3022]

Nice Shirt!

[@unclenote]

Great interview . Ça me fait sourire.

[@Douglasbastosoficial]

Very nice video!

[@tulus8075]

Il phenomenal child prodigy

[@briantriesart]

Thank youuu!!

[@Regenbogen23431]

Bireli bester Mann!!

[@solemaleicosilva9184]

Great

[@pequeuxdarleux1480]

On est fiers de toi Birelli.

[@vladvashchenko]

Nice done!

[@smweil1]

Did Bireli ever play with Eddy Louiss ?

😀👌🏻🙏

[@peterpigna9505]

Bravissimi, che chitarra sta suonando Birelli?

[@chilly_jazzy]

ワクワク！

[@councilofwolfgang9821]

is that a custom shop jaco bass?

[@roadworn61]

TOP TOP TOP !!!

[@MrHeSeYe]

Funny tongue in cheek answers to your theory test questions.

[@nacienlos70]

His English is perfect.

[@DavidRamos-nz4bh]

.. and he shreds the bass… holy crap

[@elrafa782]

I can’t believe Bireli cannot play three octaves major scale… and a 13th chord ? He sure know what it is, a least on his guitar. I don’t get it. I know he’s not a liar, but I can’t get it. How can he play through changes only by ear ? Crazy man… thanks anyway for this interview, and Bireli is so cool and humble. Love it

[@emilbirk6144]

He probably does know what it is he just most likely knows it by another name or he knows it by sound, even if he never practiced a scale directly he probably has through lifting solos

[@nicknelson9450]

"How can he play through changes only by ear?" The same way anyone with enough familiarity, even as a listener, might anticipate or hear them in their own head...that's not so impossible to imagine I think? But for both performer and listener the enjoyment of music comes from either knowing, or being surprised by, what's coming next, particularly in jazz.

[@lionheart9999]

😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

[@julesbrunton1728]

Wow great question "there's a video of you playing double bass when you were a kid. Is that something you played when you were younger?" Ummm...yes?

[@DenisChangMusic]

It was prepared especially for a genius like you

[@pascaljeanne8002]

very etonnant bireli ! i saw him one time long time ago , he was 14 ! he played django , since i ve been impressid by him ! one day i bought a record , electric guitar , it was as his charisma , nothing ! this guy plays a lot of notes without a rictus ! lol and i prefer a guy in my place , sebastien felix ! a great manouche player !

[@pascaljeanne8002]

and i m still impressed because i didnt thougt he could talk lol !

[@gramophoneloopers]

Instantly liked it without watching! 😉

[@johnrothfield6126]

dv mark amp

[@jakemf1]

Just like most of the greats he has little insight into his own playing. Learn by the recordings they have given us that is where they explain their genius

[@Noejjkkkj]

He said picks, he looked at his pick, and then proceeded to not say chit

[@marcostallmann737]

How can you read charts, when you dont know what a G13 chord is? I think Bireli does know exactly which notes belong to that chord (or a major scale) and the „don‘t know any theory“ is just show :)

[@hylandg1171]

Hahahahaha his answer at 10:53

[@mattfoley6082]

Sorry, I do not believe he doesn't know what a 13 chord is or a 3 octave major scale is.

[@DenisChangMusic]

he doesn’t. Believe what you will. However, if you do play a G13 chord he will be able to reproduce it immediately. A 3 octave scale he might struggle a little bit with it because he doesn’t think in terms of scales. But he would be able learn the pattern very quickly. I’ve done these tests with many self-taught Gypsy musicians, some who could not play pentatonic scales but could play the blues.

[@mattfoley6082]

@@DenisChangMusic I know he can play whatever he hears and recognizes patterns. I am not questioning his talent. I myself am self taught and learned by ear and know that's how you learn. But eventually you realize that all these patterns have names for them. Not learning the names of these patterns is an impediment to communicating with other musicians. It would literally take just a few minutes to learn these basics. So I don't understand why he did not. It's analogous to a painter knowing hundreds of colors but not being able to name any. Also, he's not just an unknown Gypsy musician who jams at home with friends who have no need to know theory; he is a world-wide one in a million talent who plays with top notch professional musicians. I would think a person with his drive and ambition to learn would be curious enough to learn at least some basic theory!

[@DenisChangMusic]

@@mattfoley6082 i think to answer that you have to understand Bireli as a person and the career he’s had since he was pre-pubescent. At this point in his life, he really mainly plays for himself and for fun. He doesn’t seek any career advancement or prestige (he is already quite prestigious). He just wants to live his life the way he wants to. He gets enough work offer to do just that and he doesn’t care for anything more. What that means is that all these things about how he should do this and that , learn this and that, he just doesn’t really care. It is definitely true that sometimes, it was a bit more difficult for us to work together because if I ever had to tell him what the chords to a song was , I ‘d have to borrow his guitar to show him the harmonies and then he ‘d get it. I cannot tell him I VI II V, I have to play it for him. He knows very very basic names. Like key of G, key of Gm, G chord, G minor chord. I think he knows G7 too. If I had to teach him the bridge to Cherokee, i can’ t tell him II V to B II V to A, etc… i’d have to play it for him. Luckily, he knows the song already. But there were definitely moments in the studio where I’d have to borrow the guitar or make him listen to the tracks just so he could get things correctly.

[@DenisChangMusic]

If I recall correctly, when he had to work with the WDR big band or something like that, he just listened to the rehearsal tapes and memorized everything, so he knew where his cues were

[@mattfoley6082]

@@DenisChangMusic I think you hit the nail on the head: he just doesn't care enough to learn theory. I see his refusal to learn theory as a self-imposed *avoidable* handicap which he expects others to accommodate. He has found a way to deal with his handicap: he forces others to SHOW him what to play instead of TELLING him. How many hundreds of times have people had to do that for him? It's not that he CAN'T learn theory; he WON'T. For pete's sake, he learned how to speak English, didn't he? That was MUCH harder than learning the names of chords! I haven't thought about this until now but it strikes me as selfish and/or lazy. It makes no sense to me. Music is supposed to be a TEAM effort.

[@angecrocker2614]

💔 🅿🆁🅾🅼🅾🆂🅼

[@pascaljeanne6520]

Bireli is a virtuoso ! i saw him near geneva , he was 14 ! i was 20 ! he played django ! ahes so gifted !on the bass etc ! but i prefer sebastien felix ! his feeling is so great ! bireli sometimes he plays too cold ! sorry ! i dont feel nothing and im a musician too ! its very clear , fast , and original but i dont hear no feeling !sorry but the guy can play lol !

[@nicknelson9450]

I had not previously heard of Sebastien Felix so I checked him out, thanks. He's an excellent (and fast!) player for sure but seems to stick to have a predilection for straight gipsy jazz, right? (and he reminds me of Stochelo in that respect). But Bireli has been and is much more adventurous in his exploration of different styles. Maybe not your thing, and to each his own, but for example his Standards or Live in Marciac recordings are for me absolute classics in the more mainstream jazz idiom.

[@jeromekern2093]

Django top 5?? Smh Django #1 Like Stochelo said, he lost the way He settled for less Satchmo🎺🔥

[@pavelspalensky]

U u

[@mitchie2267]

Glad he doesn't care much about gear.

[@trioanastazor5257]

You can interview one of the bests musicians in the world and you're not able to give subtitles in his own language : c'est tellement dommage 😭 et frustrant. Please!

[@zakmartel3022]

You can auto translate

[@sheddingaway]

Does he really not know what a G13 is? Hmmm :D

[@jakemf1]

He knows it’s sound he is beyond theory

[@dennisn.9583]

Birellis wishes to be George Benson, but GB is the King of Electric Jazz

[@F20ization]

George Benson is a great guitarist who makes surprise whenever he takes any guitar and he plays.even he knows how to play accoustic gypsy jazz and jazz staff! I like Bireli lagrene he is also a great guitarist,but George Benson is an other person!!He is a a big jazz dictionary that walks !!

[@streetballer4rel]

does he seriously not know what a G13 etc is?!

[@jakemf1]

He does by sound he is beyond theory