Customer Reviews

Swing Guitar Masterpieces 1938-1957

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First off, I just want to say that there is way too much talk of Oscar being Djangoesque. To hear some of this stuff you'd think Oscar is just a two-bit Django clone. The truth is that they are quite different from each other. Is one better than the other? Maybe, but I'd be hard-pressed to pick the better one. Sometimes when I'm listening to one of them I end up telling myself that he (Guy #1) is without a doubt the better of the two. Then the next time I listen to Guy #2 I find myself saying I was nuts to think Guy #1 was better. It all comes down to your mood.

Oscar's music (and I don't mean just his playing, I mean his band{s} and repertoire) is more diverse. It covers a wider range of styles and moods than did Django. I rarely agree with or care about liner-notes, but these liner-notes are 100% accurate when they say that Oscar's arrangements are the more interesting of the two men. When Django and Oscar's repertoire overlaps, I almost always find myself preferring Oscar's version of the song.

Another reason I also like this Oscar set is because obviously, at least a fair amount of the time, he was recorded by better engineers than was Django. Take for instance those two 1939 takes of the QHCF (Django) doing Hungaria. Django is on fire but you have to strain to hear him because his guitar is buried in the mix. You can hear his notes but you really don't get a taste of his tone. The year cannot be blamed for these problems in recording quality, nor can the sonic wizards at the JSP label who have released the best sounding QHCF remasters to date. For instance, Lonnie Johnson's earliest Okeh stuff was recorded in the late 1920s and early 1930s and his guitar sounds totally rich and full... way bigger than pre-war Django usually sounds, and it isn't Django's fault, it's the original engineers or equipment. Here though Oscar is usually recorded very well so you get a nice big taste of his tone on these recordings. Yet another plus.

I know that history will (and has) indeed remember Django as the better guitarist of the two, and I myself would probably agree with that 55% of the time, but in the big picture I think Oscar was probably the more interesting all-around musician. It's just really tough to overlook his considerable talents as an orchestrator, arranger, player, singer, and composer. Although if "vocal jazz" isn't your thing, don't worry. It's not mine either. There is indeed some singing and scatting on this set, but not very much. Plus, I actually think Oscar, aside from Armstrong, may be the only other scatter that I actually like.

If you like Western Swing, especially the three and four fiddle section music of the Spade Cooley Orchestra, then you are going to love the second volume of this wonderful collection. When he returned to Argentina, Aleman recorded a lot of music with three and four fiddle sections that sound a whole lot like Spade Cooley, except unlike Cooley, who forced his musicians to maintain a staid conservative "businessman's bounce" (Cooley's term not mine) Aleman and his groups really swing out. The music is great and it is clearly a direction beyond where Rheinhart went. We know that Stephen Graphelli followed Western Swing fiddlers especially Farr who ended up playing for Cooley's first band and later for Tex William's first band (composed of almost everyone in Cooley's orchestra except cooley when cooley fired them all.) There is almost no doubt listening here that there was some interchange between Aleman and his fiddlers and the Cooley sound.
Of course the first CD is excellent too. Despite the guitar shown on the Album, Aleman performed most of his prewar music on a national steel guitar.
Finally, this CD set should be in every home.

While Django was receiving well deserved accolades for his mastery of the guitar, a little known contemporary from Argentina, Oscar Aleman, was tearing it up in the Western Hemisphere. This is a wonderful two disc set spanning Oscar's premier years from 1938 - 1957. It is loaded with virtuoso treatments of both standards and originals. Oscar's incredibly fluid style is quite impressive --if not stunning. Some say he was under appreciated because his style is so Djangoesque. Hmmm, somehow I don't see that as a problem. There are too many selections to name as highlights, though I could live with a little less of the strings and clarinet (staples of the era) on some of the early numbers. None the less, this is awesome Jazz guitar with a latin flavor. An amazing player.

It's probably inevitable that Oscar Aleman would constantly be compared with Django Reinhardt. They were contemporaries and friends, and often would be playing different clubs in Paris on the same night and then get together afterwards to jam into the wee hours of the morning. (One can only wish that some of those sessions had been recorded and preserved!) In a way it's an unfair comparison, because there's probably never been any guitarist anywhere who could play like Django Reinhardt (and many have tried). Whether or not he measures up to Django's untouchable standard, though, doesn't take anything away from the greatness of Oscar Aleman. He had his own style and virtuousity, and I'm sure that anyone who enjoys listening to Django would love these recordings as well. In fact, on those songs that they both recorded (Limehouse Blues, Sweet Georgia Brown, Honeysuckle Rose, Tea for Two, etc.) it's a lot of fun to hear their different approaches. As David Grisman wrote in his introductory notes: "Aleman's contributions to an idiom pioneered by Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti and, of course, Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli are substantial. His arrangements are perhaps the most inventive and his playing is gutsy, virtuosic and inspired. Although Django's genius is unquestionable, it has always been a mystery to me as to why this other remarkable proponent of acoustic swing guitar has been so ignored and unrecognized in relation to his very celebrated friend and peer." Well, maybe with the release of this 2-CD set the oversight will begin to be corrected. In any case, it's fortunate for all of us who appreciate great acoustic guitar music that these recordings still exist, along with those old classics of Django Reinhardt.

You look at the length of every piece on these discs and say that even if the pieces are good, there can't be much there. Than you listen and fall off your chair. Aleman not only could swing as hard if not harder than Django, he and his groups could fill two to three minute blocks with a variety of incredible and diverse gems. You may think you want longer cuts, but you quickly understand that you don't need them. This is wonderful stuff from a performer who has been widely overlooked.

I recently discovered Oscar Aleman and have already added him to my list of favorites. This 2 disc set is an outstanding collection of acoustic guitar swing in a variety of settings, with the guitar always a highlight. The music is very much in the spirit of Django, and Oscar comes pretty close in terms of sheer ability. There's no Stephanie Grappelli to act as a foil here, but the various small groups represented are great together and Oscar (like Django) fits right in with the ensemble to create some fun, exciting music.

Oscar Aleman has been up to now unjustifiably ignored. These recordings are not only jewels of acoustic music but also demonstrate that Oscar was up there with the very greatest guitar players and should be recognized as such. His phrasing, attack and melodic and rhythm senses are naturally great. Exceptional, timeless Guitar Music.

Hello, I want to tell you all of a wonderful guitar player and singer too....Oscar Aleman is the most unknown musical virtuoso I have ever come across in the music world....and I do mean he is a virtuoso.....Oscar Aleman should be up there on the list of the all time great guitar players....but somehow, someway he has been obscured by what I do not know....Please help spread his name throughout the world....buy his records and hear him play that fantastic sound of his....on a National metal body guitar..... as well as his voice when he sings and scats away to the melodies of those great early pop tunes of the first half of the 1900s........Oscar Aleman also wrote many beautiful guitar songs that are jazzy and tha melodies stay in your mind.....It is all ther for you to "discover" ....tango....swing....jazz.....country....Oscar Aleman is all there ........he is worth the interest....Joseph Nania[...]

You might think of Oscar Oleman and Django Reinhardt in the same way you would Joe Frazier and Mohammed Ali. It's unfortunate in some regards when a truly monumental talent eclipses a great talent. Oscar shared the same time period as Django. He was from Argentina but spent time in Paris during the Hot Club era. He jammed with Django and they shared a great mutual respect. There is no doubt that Django was the superior player in many ways. However, Oscar was a towering talent in his own right.

If you love period string jazz, this two-disc set will not disappoint. It covers a wide range of settings and moves from small combo arrangements to larger arrangements involving full string sections. Although the instrumentals will be of primary interest to guitarists, there are also some very interesting vocals that sit perfectly within a swinging guitar/violin setting.

The playing is exceptional all ways `round and the beat is contagious. If you don't tap your foot to some of these pieces, you probably have a motor skills problem in your leg. I rate this collection very highly, beneath Django, but much higher than most others of that time.

i have been a big fan of Django Reinhardt since 1953...i can still get chills listening to certain tracks....but finding
Oscar Aleman was such a suprise...he doesn't send chills down
my spine, but he does keep my interest.....really well.

something else i have noticed...there is a great radio
station on the net "Hot Club Radio" on the Live 365 net;
and of all the Gypsy guitarists: Oscar Aleman is right in
there with all the other Gypsy/European guitarists...

so those of you new to Oscar; give him a listen.

john m.