So, you've purchased Michael Horowitz's "Gypsy Picking Book," and meticulously learned the patterns and burned rest-stroke picking into your muscle memory. You've purchased Andreas Oberg's book, "Gypsy Fire," and memorized 80 pounds of cool licks and riffs. Maybe you have even managed to find a rare copy of Mandino Reinhardt's DVD, and memorized Django's 1938 Minor Swing solo note-for-note. You've woodsheded and have become a blistering technical wizard, ready to start a gypsy band.

So, you put an advertisement on Craigslist to look for a fiddle player (maybe an accordionist!), a bassist and two rhythm guitarists. You know you can't be a Gypsy Band, unless you have a tight guy on rhythm who can chug-chug the chords to "All of Me." You interview and jam with the available pool of guitarists in your town. After a few "headhunting" jams, you begin to think, "Okay, I'll settle for one guy on rhythm..." At best, the rhythm achieves a corny doo-wacka-doo shuffle; at worst, it sounds like three Nike jogging shoes bounding about in a laundry dryer.

As Jack Brown wrote in his review of Dennis Chang's new DVD, JAZZ MANOUCHE: The Art of Accompaniment, nearly every Gypsy Jazz product out there focuses on soloing. In fact, nearly EVERY guitar book out there, regardless of genre, seems to favor soloing. Sure, there have been a couple video products through the years that have addressed rhythm: at best they've been too brief, and at worst, flat out wrong. There has been a real vacuum in instructional materials that give the aspiring Gypsy Guitarist a learned, comprehensive treatment of Gypsy Jazz Rhythm technique based on direct experience playing with the best Manouche practitioners of the genre in Europe. Until now.*

Taught in a small office setting, with three students, Dennis Chang’s, JAZZ MANOUCHE: The Art of Accompaniment is literally a master class in Gypsy Jazz rhythm. He immediately dispels myths about guitar picks. Rather than present a scholarly dissertation on the merits of Parisian versus Dutch styles, he percolates rhythm styles into to basic camps: the upstroke camp, and the all down stroke camp; more importantly he leaves one with the feeling that both are fine and legit. He covers basic chord shapes, again leaving folks who use modern 3 and 4 note "jazz voicing's" and those who use folkie "thumb" chords, feeling validated. He covers wrist position, and range of motion. While much of the DVD focuses on 4/4 swing rhythm, Chang give adequate treatment to Bossa's, Bolero's, Rhumba's and so forth. It's all taught in an informal style that works well for advanced players as well as those whose technical knowledge is very limited. What makes this video unique is that he verbally explains a technique, demonstrates it, and then asks his students to repeat it. There is very little editing happening, and you get to hear the students when they play well, and more importantly, when they play incorrectly. When the student's make a mistake, Change jumps in and immediately corrects it. So you get to hear the problem, why there is a problem, and you get an explanation of how to fix it. As I mentioned earlier, it's like a Master Class, or better yet, like a small private lesson. Because it is a video, you can see and hear the lesson, and replay it over and over.

Dennis Chang clearly has advanced knowledge on the topic of Gypsy Jazz guitar, and guitar in general. This is a result of his holding formal degrees in music, and from having actually studied, played, performed and recorded with masters of the genre like Ritary Gaguenetti, Andreas Oberg, Fapy Lafertin, Lollo Meier and others. Despite his advanced knowledge, his teaching style is very informal and intimate, and his language in non-technical and almost too colloquial.

While I maintain that this is the best and most comprehensive video product presently available, I do have one criticism and one observation: he fails to pull all the information together at the end by putting it to real world use. It would have been helpful to see the techniques being applied to real songs. Also, there are no written materials whatsoever - one only learns what one can see and hear. While this approach works very well for me, and I believe that this is the best way to learn this music, these two items may prevent this product from being a "one stop shop" for rhythm guitar.

Despite this, Dennis Chang's new DVD, JAZZ MANOUCHE: The Art of Accompaniment is a MUST have for ALL Gypsy Jazz guitarists. If you are new to the style, you will learn very quickly what it has taken me 12 years to learn. If you are soloist, you will benefit, because I feel that the best way to master soloing and learn how to play meaningfully through jazz changes is to know the rhythm and chords underneath the melody. Frankly, the best soloists in this genre are also some of the most formidable rhythm players, and many of the best rhythm players are monster soloists in their own right. This is also a great product to have on hand if you are in an established band, but you would like to bring backup players and new band mates up to speed quickly. At almost $50.00, the DVD is expensive, but is on par with the going rate for a master class.

If you've been having problems with your rhythm technique, and just can't seem to pinpoint what is wrong, this video will help you solve it. If your rhythm playing is excellent, your time is great, but you still sound more like Freddie Green than Joseph Reinhardt, this video will point out what you need to change. If you already have an extensive library of Gypsy Jazz and Swing educational materials, this product will complement and help complete your study. If you're totally new to the genre, and want to know where to begin, I think it is a required first step.

It is the best, most comprehensive and informative product pertaining to Jazz Manouche Accompaniment presently on the market! I wish that I had this DVD 12 years ago when I started my quest to become a Gypsy Jazz Rhythm guitarist. Good job, Dennis!

The disc also features three students of varying skill levels, giving Chang an opportunity to point out and correct some common mistakes. Unfortunately, the audio levels are frequently imbalanced, meaning that the students questions and playing are often too soft to be of real use (especially with one using a nylon string guitar), but it's a minor quibble about an otherwise outstanding effort.

Minor Swing Improvisation