Livestream | Energy, Verve, and Passion in Django and Gypsy Jazz Music

Hi, I’m Dallas Vietty—accordion performer and educator based in Pennsylvania, USA. For over a decade, I’ve been helping students develop not just the technique, but the feeling and spirit behind the music they play. In this livestream, we’ll explore something that’s often overlooked in the practice room but is absolutely essential on stage: the emotional engine of Gypsy jazz.

This episode is called “Energy, Verve, and Passion in Django and Gypsy Jazz Music.” We’re talking about the intensity, assertiveness, and fearless emotion that gives this music its fire. It’s not just about playing the right notes or chords—it’s about putting energy behind every phrase, driving the rhythm forward, and filling the music with personality and life.

Django’s music, and the Gypsy jazz tradition more broadly, demands a bold kind of expression. You can’t play this music timidly and expect it to sound right. We’ll look at where that energy comes from—rhythm, phrasing, dynamics, articulation—and how to channel it through your bellows, your timing, and your presence. I’ll show you how to take even simple lines and make them crackle with excitement.

If you’ve ever felt like your playing sounds too careful or too polite, this session will help you break out of that and lean into the kind of powerful, expressive performance that brings Gypsy jazz to life. Let’s talk about how to make your music feel fearless.