bireli lagrene - licks

I have put together a jazz blues lesson to showcase some of Bireli’s excellent bebop playing.Ex 1: Into Bar 1 with a blues pick up phrase followed by jazz chords; this could be Joe Pass taking the solo. Bar 2 moves into a long Ab blues scale (AbCbDbDEbGb) line over the Db9 chord leading to the tricky lick in bar 3. This is what Birelli is great at, fast fl urries of notes played effortlessly.

Ex 3: This lick shows Bireli’s care at soloing over changes whatever the tempo. Each phrase points exactly to the correct harmonic movement.

Ex 2: Again Bireli uses the Ab blues scale over the Db9 chord (Bar 5) before running down the D diminished scale. This type of playing shows his gypsy roots.

DIFFICULTY: Intermediate/Advanced

❚❚❚❚❚RECOMMENDEDLISTENING

Blue Eyes (Dreyfus, 1998)

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Bireli Lagrene grew up in the gypsy community and released his fi rst CD when he was only 13. Since then, he has recorded and toured with players such as jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, jazz guitarists like Martin Taylor and Al Di Meola to bass superstar Jaco Pastorious, as well as performing solo. To hear his playing for the fi rst time is a head spinning experience as he combines an exciting mix of old gypsy jazz, fusion and contemporary jazz. If you want to

see him in action get any of the Gypsy Project DVDs which all showcase his amazing technique and playing.

Bireli has been playing jazz since he was fi ve years old and has also mastered bass and violin!

BIRELI LAGRENEIain Scott

BLUES TO JAZZ LICKS

GEARBireli plays a ‘Django’ style acoustic guitar and a Gibson L5 single pickup guitar through a Roland JC120 amp. For this recording I used a Gibson ES-335 through a PODxt set to the Fender Twin emulation with a touch of compression.

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EBGDAE

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11 10 9 7

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EBGDAE

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Lick 2

3

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Ddim

5

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Lick 3

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4

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Gb7 F7

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Lick 4

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Lick 5

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Lick 63

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Ab7 F7

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Bb7 Eb7

Ab7

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GUITARIST MAGAZINE 273 IAIN SCOTT - BLUES TO JAZZ - BIRELLE LAGRENE

Rock Licks Tracks 18-21

178 FEBRUARY 2005

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Lick 2

3

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Ddim

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Lick 3

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Lick 4

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Lick 5

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Lick 63

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Ab7 F7

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Bb7 Eb7

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Lick 2

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Ddim

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Lick 3

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Lick 4

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Lick 5

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Lick 63

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Ab7 F7

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Bb7 Eb7

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Blues To Jazz Licks Tracks 18-21

TRACKS 18-21

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©»126 Lick 1

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11 10 9 7

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Lick 2

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Ddim

5

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Lick 3

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Lick 5

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Lick 63

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Ex 6: The last phrase follows the chord movement of the turnaround. Notice the tense sounding E note played over the Eb7, implying Eb7b9. The last two notes anticipate a resolution to the home chord of Ab7.

Ex 5: To finish off, time for some speedy bebop playing. Bar 10 is in the style of Robben Ford, using largely Eb mixolydian (EbFGAbBbCDb) over the Eb7 chord. It can also be analysed as an F Blues lick leading to Db and Ab triads (Larry Carlton thinks this way using triads).

Ex 4: This short phrase is made up from playing a melodic Bb Dorian lick over the Bb7 chord, describing Bbm9 (or, thinking another way, a Dbmaj7 arpeggio).

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Lick 2

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Lick 3

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Lick 4

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Lick 5

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Lick 63

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Lick 2

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Ddim

5

7 46

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Lick 3

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Lick 4

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Lick 5

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Lick 63

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Ab7 F7

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Bb7 Eb7

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All in all a very impressive display of harmonic knowledge can be found here – being played in different styles with great skill over a blues progression – and this is the easy stuff. Bireli, we salute you!

bireli lagrene - licks

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