All of me ..with all of us :)

Julien Apelian - Distant Mirrors - Mirko Borach, a man called Martin, Dan van den Berg & Julien Apelian

My Sweet Swings à la Django ..with classic jazz and klezmer covers

nostalgia

An intense year gone already ... Here is a collection 2016 tracks released on SC , many of them in collaboration with SC friends I 'd like to thank so much here for their inspiration, creative enthousiasm and  kind patience !!!  :)
I love to think that what binds us is stronger than what seperates us (thank you Alexis for this beautiful thought I share completely) ...
 Let's continue to share the joy of playing, creating music and supporting each other in 2017 !!  Most kindly yours , Steph

2016 Tracks

Last months recreations, discovering the cloud of sounds, learning to play new real instruments (bass, didgeridoo, trumpet), having fun with my old clarinet and guitars,  andl happily learning how to make music   ! :)

Recent

Collabs & Jams

This Place Will Become Your Tomb

Hypnosis

 Italy-France SC collaboration
Guitars : Lorenzo Rovito
Double bass : Riccardo Ievoli 
Clarinets : Stephano (DDJohn)  ;-)
Please visit Lorenzo Rovito's SC page  (https://soundcloud.com/lorenzo-rovito) and listen to his amazing recordings in pure Django style ...

Nuages  (Django Reinhardt) - ft. Lorenzo Rovito

Bass, fretless bass, music and composition: Mirko Borach @stringburner 
Rhythm and lead guitars, co-production: Daniel van den Berg @DanArchX 
Synthesizer, co-production: Jamie Rhind @jamie-rhind  
Drums: A man called Martin @amancalledmartin  
Electric piano, synthesizer, mixing and production: Julien Apelian @jules-keys-1

A message from Mirko:

"The journey continues!

After releasing "Redemption" on SoundCloud which was a full success, we were thinking of a part II to continue the journey into great spheres of fusion and progressive rock. 
This time it should be more intense, more heavy and more mind-blowing than the first part. 
Like a spaceship flight through other dimensions.

With the same line-up as on “Redemption” but now supported by Martin of the British metal band Winterfire on drums we want to enter some parallel worlds of sound.

The title Parallel Worlds should explain our hopes and feelings when we fall asleep.
Falling into a dream our mind is drifting into a parallel universe of different moods and atmospheres.

This track takes us back to instrumental prog rock bands like Planet X with such great musicians like Derek Sherinian, Tony MacAlpine, Virgil Donati and Tom Kennedy.

Again Julien Apelian gives us outstanding key and piano lines and a magic synth solo from outer space.
Dan van den Berg’s splendid rhythm and lead guitar work took us beyond the bounds of universe. 
Jamie Rhind discovers new space at the speed of light with an awesome synth solo.
A man called Martin’s great drums are pure gravity holding it all perfectly together and finally Mirko Borach’s deep bass grooves took us to undiscovered planets and back.

As always we really appreciate your comments, likes and shares!"

December 2015

Parallel Worlds - Mirko Borach, Dan van den Berg, Jamie Rhind, A man called Martin & Julien Apelian

My litle Happy new year to all ..with the clarinet :))
May love, kindness and happiness be with you !!!
All the very best 
Steph

A Story Without Words

Michel Delpech passed away recently : http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20160103-famous-french-singer-michel-delpech-passes-away
This is my humble tribute to a a great composer singer and melodist who carried so well the soul of the 70's in France...this song I heard when I was very yound has imprinted me forever ..Hope you like my little version of it :) 
Original : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8EqlDIkrx8
All the very best 
Steph

Le Chasseur (Michel Delpech)

Vocals : https://soundcloud.com/ilaria-brovini
Music : https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn
Hope this full rock version makes you happy :))
Original : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyihQtBes1I

Lyrics
I've been long, a long way from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos,
And drank til I was thirsty again
We went searching through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo
And Benny Goodman's corset and pen

Well, o.k. I made this up
I promised you I'd never give up

[Chorus]
If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad

You get down, real low down
You listen to Coltrane, derail your own train
Well who hasn't been there before?
I come round, around the hard way
Bring you comics in bed, scrape the mold off the bread
And serve you french toast again

Well, o.k. I still get stoned
I'm not the kind of girl you'd take home

[Chorus]

We've been far, far away from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos
And everywhere in between
Well, o.k. we get along
So what if right now everything's wrong?

[Chorus]


If It Makes You Happy (Sheryl Crow)  By  Ilaria Brovini And DDJohn

Started wanting to make  a cover after listening to this  great version of this wonderful classic 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVj7-CUtaE
but finally  decided not to do like the original ...  
Hope to share the fun of making this :)

S'Wonderful (George Gershwin)

I'm very glad to hear on this jazz standard the great vocals of Martin https://soundcloud.com/ver2xif and the awesome clarinet playing of Michel https://soundcloud.com/michel-martineau.
It looks we were very laid back to play this moderate swing with a lot of fun. We hope you enjoy.
Thank you for your time listening, your shares and your comments.

Vocals: Martin Jones https://soundcloud.com/ver2xif
Clarinet: Michel Martineau https://soundcloud.com/michel-martineau
Piano, drum programming and upright bass (on keys): Julien Apelian https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1 

Fly Me To The Moon - Martin Jones (Ver2Xif), Michel Martineau and Julien Apelian

Made with lots of love thinking of  the Eagles,  the Beatles, Ben Harper  and many other dear ones :))
Hope you enjoy my little song :)
Have a great week 
Steph 

Lyrics:
Did you ever open your mail box
Did you ever check it in the cloud
Did you ever listen to the little song 
I wrote for you

Now, I know you've got so much to do
Now, I know you're working real hard
Now, I know you don't have time for anything
Even for my little song

ooo when you come home
ooo I'll play it live for you
***
Hope it'll make you feel all right :)

Dedicated to all fathers missing their  dear little ones ...just waiting for them to come home :))

My Little Song

Initial music and fretless bass arrangements by Mirko Borach https://soundcloud.com/stringburner
Drums and drum arrangements, co-production by A Man called Martin https://soundcloud.com/amancalledmartin
Guitars, guitar arrangements, theme melodies, co-production by Dan van den Berg https://soundcloud.com/danarchx
Keyboards, harmonic arranging, production, mixing and mastering by Julien Apelian https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1

Mirko's message:
After the success of our track "Parallel Worlds" i was thinking of another piece that would contain some different styles of music. 
The title “Distant Mirrors” should explain the different parts and musical styles in this track. 
There are a few parts and changes in there and it’s not coming back to an earlier played theme. 
After laying down my bassparts I was seaching for musicians who would be able to put that plan into action. 
So what’s better to ask A man called Martin, Julien Apelian and Dan van den Berg again? 
Think they all exceeded my expectations again with some wonderful ideas and arrangements.
Thanks again for this beautiful piece of music!

We had great fun on this spectacular piece by Mirko. As always we thank you for your generous time listening, giving comments, likes and sharing!
February 2016


Distant Mirrors - Mirko Borach, a man called Martin, Dan van den Berg & Julien Apelian

This is a really fun jam - done in record times ! -  with David (https://soundcloud.com/davidmcwilliams2) , very much inspired by  Master Django https://www.google.fr/?ion=1&espv=2#q=Django+aall+of+me

It's wonderful to be able to  jam like this  between USA and France thanks to SC !!  Our dear Django must be smiling up there ;-)

Jamming friends welcome  ! I'd be more than happy to mix in your stem  for another longer version ! Here's 
- one base track with guitars only (4 turns)
https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/all-of-me-base/s-CnT0x
- complete base track with second clarinets (7 turns, you can play 1/3/5/7 solo (impro or theme) and play with background clarinets/guitars !
https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/all-of-me-complete-base-track-with-second-clarinets/s-CvUrZ 

Live jam after this ! : https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/all-of-me-live-at-the-kustom-cafe

All Of Me -  with David Mac Williams

Live version with  teachers and students from our local music school :) Was great fun :)))
Had a wonderful SC cloud jam before that one with my friend David :  https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/all-of-me-with-david-mac-williams


All of me - Jam with FLC team -  Live at the Kustom Cafe

"All of Me" is a popular song and jazz standard written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931.
First performed by Belle Baker over the radio and recorded in December 1931 by Ruth Etting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:All_of_Me_performed_by_Ruth_Etting.ogg
 It has become one of the most recorded songs of its era, with notable versions by Russ Columbo, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Mildred Bailey, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson in 1941, the Count Basie Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan (for the 1957 album, Swingin' Easy), Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine in 1947, Dinah Washington at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, Shirley Bassey in 1962, The Blue Diamonds, Della Reese, Johnnie Ray,[2] Django Reinhardt, Erroll Garner, Willie Nelson, Ronnie Dove, Jean Frye Sidwell, João Gilberto (Disse Alguém), Michael Bublé, Miss Montreal in 2012 and The Rockin' Berries. Ani DiFranco covered the song in 2012 for the Documentary, Love, Marilyn. It is also covered by Eric Clapton on his 2013 album Old Sock with Paul McCartney.

I'm very glad to share with you this awesome composition with the talented clarinet player DD John (Steph) who recorded also the rhythm guitars and the upright bass!!!
I just added some piano, i hope you'll enjoy our jam!
Clarinet, rhythm guitar & upright bass: https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn
Piano: https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1
A message from Steph:
"The jam is open for Djangophiles , Steph will mix be more than happy to mix the contributions from Django lovers in an "all together " jam ) 
Base track can be found at : 
https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/all-of-me-complete-base-track-with-second-clarinets
Photo by DD John at the Django's memorial.

All of me - Steph & Jul

"All of Me" is a popular song and jazz standard written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931

Clarinette: https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn
Guitares: Pierrou

All of Me (DDJohn & Pierrou)

This is a hot classic song https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Song?veaction=edit! Hot like this autumn season in France...A song of circumstance ...Discovered this gem interpreted by Django recently, could't believe I never listened to this treasure before .......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7aOnRO1v9E
This is only an attempt to cover the master my humble way , started with the guitar for the simple phrases and continued furher with the clarinet ...this is just half of the song really...
played the theme with some personal interpretation  at the end "à la Bechet " ....well "à la steph" let's say :)

Any Django lover (guitarist or other) more than welcome to add a chorus / theme on this one ..I'd be happy to send you a base track and make another version  :)
I play here real instruments (clarinet and guitar)and use Cubase vst for bass and drums

September Song (from Django Reinhardt's interpretation)

Getting ready to play live for the fête de la musique ! Hope you like this clarinet version  very much inspired from Birelli's version ..; love that one so much !!(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcX3SVKcKVo)
If your feet start tapping and your fingers want to play on whatever instrument , please feel free to play and record yourself from the base track here https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/blues-clair-base-17-06/s-FOTsV    
...I'd be more than happy to mix in your stem to celebrate music day not only in France !!
Have a great WE
Steph
Clarinets, guitar, bass & drums programming ...by  my little fingers ;-)

Blues Clair  (Django Reinhardt)..clarinet version

Not easy to follow Django in his choruses with the clarinet !!! I did my best until the end on this beautiful track evoking the elegance of a beautiful young lady walking down the streets .... of Paris ( I imagine !)  ... All the genius of Django is here I think with the incredible feel with the melody and harmonies .  This song was recorded in 1942 with his clarinetist Hubert Rostaing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVfmme3vGPY
Hope you like my humble tribute ! Have a great week Steph
Photo from Robert Doisneau

Lentement Mademoiselle (Django Reinhardt)

After watching Django Reinhardt 's recent biopic, a little mélodie was trotting in my mind ...So I made a clarinet version of it !https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn/petite-melodie
I was very pleasantly surprised  https://soundcloud.com/canette3-frostie found some fun lyrics and vocals  and brought some new ideas ... this is now a happy friday song thanks to Kat and Sc  !! Hope you like it !! Have a great Friday :))
PS :  This is specially dedicated to WE musicians  and to beautifully singing blackbird ;-)

Lyrics and vocals by Katerina Mrazkova
Original music, arrangement, instruments (including  whistle !), mix & master by DDJohn (Steph)

Petite Mélodie - with Kat

All right I did it ! 
This is my little quick tribute to our dear French Elvis, Mr Johnny Hallyday ! 
Adieu Johnny, tu vas nous manquer ...
Music  homemade with the help of Cubase for the drums
Guitars : my old Vantage for the acoustic and my old Telecaster for the elec guitar

Gabrielle (RIP Johnny)

I'm so glad Baking Jazz Power (https://soundcloud.com/bakingjazzpower) 
 made me discover Tuba Skinny and a wonderful track from this wonderful New Orleans jazz band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2auDwCIIM3s
i've had loads  of fun implementing clarinet and bass arrangements from his wonderful track (https://soundcloud.com/bakingjazzpower/shake-it-break-it-tuba-skinny-guitar-cover)

Hope you like this version !
Steph

Shake it and break it (Tuba Skinny ) with Baking Jazz Power

This is one of those classics that swings :))https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheek_to_Cheek_(chanson)
 I'm very glad Kat (https://soundcloud.com/canette3-frostie) proposed a gipsy jazz version of it , On my side I found an amazing version with Benny Goodman ...and here we go !! 
Hope you like our Gipsy jazz version with Benny Goodman fantastic inspiration for the clarinet part !
Have a happy swinging Christmas !

Cheek To Cheek with Kat

It's Christmas soon !  Time for a jazzy cheerful tune !
I'm absolutely thrilled to present this jam on a very dear song to me and with very dear friends from SC small planet. By order of appearance for the choruses :
- Maestro BJP at the guitar solo (https://soundcloud.com/bakingjazzpower)
- Maestro Julien Apelian at the keys (https://soundcloud.com/jules-keys-1)
- Maestro Jamie Rhind also at the keys (https://soundcloud.com/jamie-rhind)
I had the fantastic pleasure to bring the clarinet solo part and to wrap this all up !
Happy a Merry  Cheerfully Swingy Christmas !

Blues Clair (D. Reinhardt)by the Christmas Hot Club de SC (BJP, Julien Apelian, Jamie Rhind, DDJohn)

This is one of those classics that swings.
I'm very glad Stéph (@DDJohn)agreed to make a Gypsy jazz version of it , He took a little advice from Benny Goodman ... and this is the result. 
Hope you like our Gypsy jazz version with Benny Goodman fantastic inspiration for the clarinet part !
And Stéph - MERCI! :-)

Cheek To Cheek - Stéph Laporte aka DDJohn

Composed by Pierrou (song for my son)
All guitars Patenotte D256 - Pierrou
Clarinetts DDjohn https://soundcloud.com/ddjohn
Bass-Drum Impro-Visor ; 2nd drum DDJohn

Titi (DDJohn & Pierrou)

Thank you for stopping by, feel free to check out my new SoundCloud profile: 
https://soundcloud.com/audio-colors
Music is a passion, i'm keyboardist and love to play some guitar, bass and drums as well.
Compositions, recording, mixing and mastering at Audio Colors Studio.