D'Jalma Garnier
Encyclopedia
D'Jalma Garnier III is a musician
and composer
best known for Creole
and Cajun
fiddle
and "outside" musical compositions and collaborations with other artists.
His musical heritage
descends from the Camelia Brass Band
in New Orleans led by his grandfather, D'Jalma Garnier, (also spelled Ganier while with Camelia Brass Band), a legendary early jazz player noted on the Preservation Hall
roster in the New Orleans French Quarter
. Garnier is one of numerous grandsons descended from D'Jalma Thomas Garnier the New Orleans bandleader, trumpet player, pianist and violinist said to have taught Louis Armstrong
at the New Orleans Boys Home for Colored Waifs. D'Jalma Garnier, the fiddler, composer, guitarist, and "pedestrian scholar" of Louisiana
Creole
fame, is the older brother of Tony Garnier
born 1956, Bob Dylan
's band leader and bass player for the Neverending Tour Band since 1989. The two brothers are the only descendants of Papa Garnier to become professional musicians in the legacy of this significant New Orleans musical family.
D’Jalma Garnier has been the subject and contributor of many articles and documentaries about Louisiana
Creole
Music. He plays fiddle
and guitar
, and has performed and recorded with many leading Creole musicians. His study of Creole fiddle playing was advanced as the result of a two-year Texas Folklike Resources Grant to study and perform with the NEA
National Heritage Award winner Canray Fontenot
. D’Jalma has taught this material repeatedly at the Augusta
Folklife
Heritage
Camp in North Carolina, for Louisiana Folk Roots in Lafayette
, and in other workshops at home and abroad.
The musical accomplishments of Garnier's heritage and work with zydeco
and Cajun
bands in Acadiana
does not detract from his work as an ethnomusicologist of Louisiana
Francophone
cultures or forays into avant-garde
and electronic music
. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also performs professionally on bass
and guitar
, as well as fiddle
, in a variety of genres. His musical work with poets includes performances and recordings with Allen Ginsberg
and Hedwig Gorski
, among others. Garnier produces Passport to Modern Jazz
on KRVS-FM radio
to "walk you through the gate" of new and progressive artists.
fiddle
music, and an instructional DVD with supplemental performances. The songs were chosen because they are either the first ones people tend to learn, were written by a master and have many possibilities for variations, or cover related styles. The method covers the technique step-by-step along with tricks necessary to perform the music
. Garnier created sheet music for many Creole folk
classics. The transcriptions are unique for this music genre because these songs have been passed down player to player and learned by ear.
This volume is a rich sampling of core material from Louisiana
roots music
. The late Canray Fontenot
is the best known Creole fiddler, and much of this book is infused with his legacy, including five of his compositions and a video clip. Mr. Garnier has included two of his own tunes, and the rest are by pioneer Louisiana
fiddlers of the past—Amédé Ardoin
, Bébé Carriere, and Dennis McGee
, along with zydeco favorite Boozoo Chavis
. The method part of the book explains Creole
fiddle
technique, including bowing, cross bowing, fingering, double stops, and scratching, helping the reader learn to play in a Louisiana
style. Along with learning to play solo, information is included on working with accordion
players, a second fiddle, guitarists, starting a tune in a group and other tips about working with bands, and amplification. Additional resources are available when playing the disc on a computer.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
best known for Creole
Louisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
and Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and "outside" musical compositions and collaborations with other artists.
His musical heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
descends from the Camelia Brass Band
Camelia Brass Band
The Camelia Brass Band was a brass band from New Orleans, founded by Wooden Joe Nicholas around 1917 or 1918....
in New Orleans led by his grandfather, D'Jalma Garnier, (also spelled Ganier while with Camelia Brass Band), a legendary early jazz player noted on the Preservation Hall
Preservation Hall
Preservation Hall is a noted jazz performance hall located at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It hosts nightly concerts featuring a rotating roster of bands. The bands of Preservation Hall typically perform jazz in the New Orleans style.Despite the fame of the...
roster in the New Orleans French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
. Garnier is one of numerous grandsons descended from D'Jalma Thomas Garnier the New Orleans bandleader, trumpet player, pianist and violinist said to have taught Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
at the New Orleans Boys Home for Colored Waifs. D'Jalma Garnier, the fiddler, composer, guitarist, and "pedestrian scholar" of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Creole
Louisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
fame, is the older brother of Tony Garnier
Tony Garnier (musician)
Tony Garnier is an American bassist , best known as an accompanist to Bob Dylan, with whom he has played since 1989...
born 1956, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's band leader and bass player for the Neverending Tour Band since 1989. The two brothers are the only descendants of Papa Garnier to become professional musicians in the legacy of this significant New Orleans musical family.
D’Jalma Garnier has been the subject and contributor of many articles and documentaries about Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
Music. He plays fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and has performed and recorded with many leading Creole musicians. His study of Creole fiddle playing was advanced as the result of a two-year Texas Folklike Resources Grant to study and perform with the NEA
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
National Heritage Award winner Canray Fontenot
Canray Fontenot
Canray Fontenot was an American Creole fiddle player, who has been described as "the greatest black Louisiana French fiddler of our time."-Early life:...
. D’Jalma has taught this material repeatedly at the Augusta
Augusta
Augusta, a feminine form of the name of the Roman Emperor Augustus, is also part of the original Latin names of many ancient places named after him, as well as their modern descendants and later places given that name in honor of him or some other notable of his name.Augusta can mean:-In...
Folklife
Folklife
Folklife is an extension of, and often an alternate term for the subject of, folklore. The term gained usage in the United States in the 1960s from its use by such folklore scholars as Don Yoder and Warren Roberts, who wished to recognize that the study of folklore goes beyond oral genres to...
Heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
Camp in North Carolina, for Louisiana Folk Roots in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, and in other workshops at home and abroad.
The musical accomplishments of Garnier's heritage and work with zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
and Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
bands in Acadiana
Acadiana
Acadiana, or The Heart of Acadiana, is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large Francophone population. Of the 64 parishes that make up Louisiana, 22 named parishes and other parishes of similar cultural environment, make up the intrastate...
does not detract from his work as an ethnomusicologist of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
cultures or forays into avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also performs professionally on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, as well as fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, in a variety of genres. His musical work with poets includes performances and recordings with Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
and Hedwig Gorski
Hedwig Gorski
Dr. Hedwig Gorski is an American performance poet and an avant-garde artist who labels her aesthetic as American Futurism...
, among others. Garnier produces Passport to Modern Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
on KRVS-FM radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
to "walk you through the gate" of new and progressive artists.
Book
Mel Bay released Garnier's 2009 book, a method book with a collection of 14 songs by the masters of Louisiana CreoleLouisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
music, and an instructional DVD with supplemental performances. The songs were chosen because they are either the first ones people tend to learn, were written by a master and have many possibilities for variations, or cover related styles. The method covers the technique step-by-step along with tricks necessary to perform the music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. Garnier created sheet music for many Creole folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
classics. The transcriptions are unique for this music genre because these songs have been passed down player to player and learned by ear.
This volume is a rich sampling of core material from Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
roots music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
. The late Canray Fontenot
Canray Fontenot
Canray Fontenot was an American Creole fiddle player, who has been described as "the greatest black Louisiana French fiddler of our time."-Early life:...
is the best known Creole fiddler, and much of this book is infused with his legacy, including five of his compositions and a video clip. Mr. Garnier has included two of his own tunes, and the rest are by pioneer Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
fiddlers of the past—Amédé Ardoin
Amédé Ardoin
Amédé Ardoin was an American Louisiana Creole musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on the Creole/Cajun Accordion...
, Bébé Carriere, and Dennis McGee
Dennis McGee
Dennis McGee was one of the earliest recorded Cajun musicians.A fiddle player, he recorded and performed with black Creole accordionist and vocalist Amédé Ardoin, with accordionist Angelas LeJeune, and with fiddlers Sady Courville and Ernest Frugé...
, along with zydeco favorite Boozoo Chavis
Boozoo Chavis
Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis was a zydeco musician - music created by French speaking Creoles of South-West Louisiana. He was active from 1954 until his death during which time he largely sang and played the accordion. Chavis was also a prolific writer of zydeco songs...
. The method part of the book explains Creole
Louisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
technique, including bowing, cross bowing, fingering, double stops, and scratching, helping the reader learn to play in a Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
style. Along with learning to play solo, information is included on working with accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
players, a second fiddle, guitarists, starting a tune in a group and other tips about working with bands, and amplification. Additional resources are available when playing the disc on a computer.