ReMix:Final Fantasy IX "Vamo alla Django" 2:57

Final Fantasy IX: Worlds Apart was a tremendous undertaking resulting in a great album that was full of surprises, diversity, and flagrant amounts of creativity, and director Fishy (Cain McCormack) not only coordinated & took it to completion, but also had some amazing contributions of his own. This gypsy-jazz trio makes me want to watch Sweet and Lowdown again, and captures the spirit, swagger, & intimacy of three capable musicians having some fun, with panache.

• Guitars: AndyP (Andy Pearce) and Fishy (Cain McCormack)
• Double Bass: Dan Bryant
• Recorded at the IoSR
• Engineer: Andy Land
• Producer: Andy Pearce
• Assistant: Emma Towers-Evans

Cain writes:

"Me and Andy started a gypsy jazz band while at university together. Tragically recorded before we both acquired real gypsy manouche guitars, but it's the thought that counts. This one is all Andy's arrangement, I just played my parts and did a solo."

Lack of authentique manouche wasn't so tragic; ended up sounding great, with plenty of the accents & attitude I associate with the performance style. As a sidenote, way back in 2006 (!!) we posted Adrian Holovaty's "Gypsy Jazz" - and I made the same Sweet and Lowdown reference in THAT writeup. AndyP adds:

"The remix started out as a standard acoustic guitar arrangement - that was before I saw a group of gypsy jazz buskers in the local high street. It's upbeat, harmonically interesting, and more than anything, it's the most fun I've had playing guitar. The track combines elements of Django Reinhardt's "Minor Swing," a staple in gypsy jazz playing. We borrowed the chord progression for Fishy's guitar solo and other generic gypsy jazz components for the arrangement, such as minor 6 chords and adapting the "Minor Swing" melody to the "Vamo" chords.

Gotta thank Andy Land for the recording session, all recorded at the IoSR studios at the University of Surrey, and thanks to Dan Bryant for the bass."

It really works; the source lends itself to the style, and everything feels very natural, loose, comfortable, but also musical & on-point. A great pairing of source & genre that required some swagger & musicianship to really shine, and received both in abundance, making for one of many enchanting musical destinations on the Worlds Apart journey - highly recommended!