It's interesting that you mentioned big band with Django, as I have both lumped together in my head as well; things that are much more impressive live than on a recording. Stepping into a venue where people are actually dancing to live to a jazz or swing band, and to not just hear but feel the deafening blast of horns are things you just can't get from a recording. I get a weird nostalgia for those live moments when I hear recordings.
Also FWIW I like Django, but I don't know if that it's aged poorly or if it's just mostly the same across a lot of his material and that the genre itself was played out over time. It's become "hokey" as some would call it and, perhaps, since we were never there we apply our modern perceptions to it.
That said, a few bangers still stand out on the recordings and some of the solos and tempo changes are cool, even by today's standards.
>Stepping into a venue where people are actually dancing to live to a jazz or swing band, and to not just hear but feel the deafening blast of horns are things you just can't get from a recording.
Dancing bal to a gypsy jazz group at Le Colonial in SF years ago, the space cramped, the tables pushed back a few feet around, the crowd dancing and mingling amongst the tables, half knowing each other, at the twilight of a dying facet of the city... I don't remember if the musicians were very good, or even whether it was just a solo guitarist---I recall he'd played at a party a day or two before---but in that moment the music was more enchanting than any grand concert I had been to.
Even live, but in a concert hall, I expect it would have been unsatisfying. By itself, except for particular technical appreciation when at Django's level, gypsy jazz is rather monotonous. I've heard styles that need similar contexts, played out of place in concert halls, like Max Raabe, and while the musicians are excellent, it feels lacking.
But in the right context, the context it was born in, it is amazing.
Also FWIW I like Django, but I don't know if that it's aged poorly or if it's just mostly the same across a lot of his material and that the genre itself was played out over time. It's become "hokey" as some would call it and, perhaps, since we were never there we apply our modern perceptions to it.
That said, a few bangers still stand out on the recordings and some of the solos and tempo changes are cool, even by today's standards.