• Hank Marvin (ex The Shadows) and Gypsy Jazz play Kulcha on May 3.
HANK MARVIN may be regarded as one of the greatest musicians ever to pluck six strings but the former Shadows’ lead guitarists says he’s still “improving”.
The ex-UK guitarist, who now lives in Perth, joined Cliff Richard’s backing band in the late ‘50s, the group’s distinctive sound created with Fender Stratocaster guitars. Marvin is often credited with introducing the strat to the UK.
Jeff Beck
The 71-year-old influenced a generation of guitar legends including Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, but over the past decade he has become renowned for exploring the world of gypsy jazz on acoustic guitar.
“People connect me with the red strat,” he told the Herald. “But going from a stratocaster to a gypsy acoustic guitar—which might not mean much to a layman—but from a guitar point of view it has a longer scale and the neck is longer and it’s harder to play.
“They are a challenge, but saying that it’s a rewarding challenge, because you keep pumping away trying to improve technique and ability. And I have definitely improved playing that style of music.”
The legendary guitarist is making a rare appearance with his band Gypsy Jazz, at Kulcha on May 3.
The three-piece, which includes accordion player Nunzio Mondia and Gary Taylor from ‘60s UK pop band The Herd, will reinterpret the music of pioneering jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and French jazz violin player Stephane Grappelli.
Marvin says the band will be “putting their own spin” on the music of the two great composers.
“We looked at the basics of the music but we didn’t want to copy the original arrangements so we have added something that is fresh and original,” he says. “Bear in mind we are not jazz musicians from the ‘40s.
“We have great deal of respect for the essence of the music, but I think we have added something different which we think makes it stand out.
“With improvising you never know what’s going to happen. Sometimes the most remarkable phrases come and and you wonder where that came from.”
Marvin says he first heard Reinhardt’s music as a 16-year-old in his home town Newcastle.
“I met this guy one day after we just finished a gig and this guy said ‘can I look at your guitar’ and he started playing some very interesting things.
“I said ‘what’s that’ and he said Django Reinhardt.
“I found out Reinhardt was this wonderful, innovative jazz guitarist so I bought an old vinyl album that was terribly tinny and didn’t do a lot for me.
“But later on when I was doing an acoustic album, I started to listen to some of the later stuff.
“He was self-taught and only had two working fingers on his left hand, so he had to develop and learn a new technique. If you hear his work it’s so amazing how anybody could play so melodically and musically with just those two fingers.”
by BRENDAN FOSTER