University of Arizona - Spring 2021
Art history 107, Chapter 8 Syllabus
Professor Reese, Section 9
May 06, 2021
Ian Cruickshank (1947 – 29 April 2017) was an English electric and acoustic guitarist most
associated with the blues-rock and gypsy jazz genres, also well known in the U.K. as an
educator, author and columnist, record producer and record label owner, festival organiser
and promoter of artists in the gypsy jazz world. (Brown & Davis, 2018) Interestingly, He
achieved some success in the 1960s in the Keef Hartley Band playing electric guitar under
the pseudonym Spit James before becoming enamoured of the gypsy jazz style originated by
Django Reinhardt in the 1930s and devoting almost all of his energies to educating,
performing and promoting activities in this area up till his death in 2017. (Johnson, 2020)
Class Date: 5/9/2024
Teacher’s Feedback: Add more examples to support your argument.
GENERIC CONTENT:
## Conclusion
He published several influential books on gypsy jazz, was producer and music co-ordinator
for the TV Documentary Django Legacy, was the owner of the Fret Records record label, and
organised the UK Gypsy Jazz Guitar Festival annually from 1997 to 2000. == Biography ==
Ian Cruickshank grew up in the south-east of England where he formed his first band, The
Ian Lloyd Bluesmen, in 1965 at the age of 18. One night in 1968, after a gig supporting John
Mayall's Bluesbreakers he was approached by Mayall's drummer Keith "Keef" Hartley who
was leaving Mayall to form his own band, and asked Cruickshank to join; turning
professional by this means, and with the stage name of "Spit James" (coined by Hartley so as
to sound more like a bluesman), Cruickshank went on to record two albums with the band
(Halfbreed and The Battle Of North West Six) before leaving after 18 months.
## Background
His work on Halfbreed caught the ear of many fans, one retrospective reviewer stating that
Ian/Spit was "rather the star of the album". After leaving Hartley, Ian concentrated on
teaching and session work, and at some point he became fascinated with the playing of the
late jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt and taught himself to play quite effectively in this
style - a feat given the dearth of gypsy jazz stylists in the U.K. at that time. Eventually in May
1978 he made his way to the village of Samois-sur-Seine to attend the Django Reinhardt
memorial jazz festival which in that year was celebrating 25 years after the death of Django
and discovered how the living tradition of gypsy jazz was flourishing among the Manouche
gypsies of France and northern Europe. Documenting his experiences in a magazine article
the following year entitled "Django Re-visited", he described his discovery of players such
as Boulou and Elios Ferré playing with their father Matelo, Raphaël Faÿs, Christian Escoudé
as well as those of the older generation then still performing including Django's brother
Joseph Reinhardt and Django's first son Lousson, who were by then playing more in an
electric style.
## Analysis
Ian also taped a number of these performances on a small portable tape recorder and later
made the performances available on a subscription-only cassette entitled "Gypsy Jazz from
France" which for many U.K. enthusiasts was their first opportunity to access performances
of this style of music by living musicians. Around this time Ian was contributing a monthly
column "Guitar Django Style" to the U.K.'s Guitar magazine, which were eventually collated
to form the nucleus of Ian's first published book, "The Guitar Style of Django Reinhardt"
(1982) which also included numerous original photographs as well as notes on present-day
gypsy practitioners of the style.
## Findings (List)
- He was active in promoting gypsy jazz performances in the U.K. by bringing over artists
such as Waso, Raphaël Faÿs and Biréli Lagrène as well as performing with his own groups,
entitled first Swing Guitars and later, Ian Cruckshank's Gypsy Jazz.
- In 1994 Ian produced a second book entitled "Django's Gypsies: The Mystique of Django
Reinhardt and his People" which was subtitled "a unique collection of photographs,
illustrations, memorabilia and quotations" and included reprints of a number of articles
along with numerous original and rare photographs related to the gypsies and gypsy jazz.
## Discussion (List)
- In 1991 he was producer and music co-ordinator for John Jeremy's TV Documentary
"Django Legacy".
- He organised the U.K. "Gypsy Jazz Guitar Festival" annually from 1997 to 2000, and
appeared as a guest artist on three compilation albums from these for the years 1998, 1999
and 2000.
- He also produced an instructional VHS tape (later DVD) "Gypsy Jazz Guitar" as well as
additional books entitled "Getting Started With Jazz Guitar", "Notes", "The A to Z of Django",
"Chord and Discord", and "Noticed Moments", as well as appearing on the CDs Swingin'
Spirits and Django Meets the Duke (both with the U.S.-based group Pearl Django), Water
Gypsy, and Now and Zen.
- As a sideline, he founded "Fret Records" to release these and other albums of gypsy jazz
interest.
- His death at the age of 70 was reported in April 2017.
## Conclusion (List)
- Chris Martin, writing on the "djangobooks" forum, expressed the views of many when he
wrote: "Every Brit, and many others, who love the Django style owe him a huge thanks for
everything he has done over the years, his books were my first introduction to the style."
- == Discography ==
FJC 102 – Ian Cruickshank's Gypsy Jazz (Cassette, 1993) Ian Cruickshank, lead guitar; Jez
Cook, rhythm guitar; Andy Crowdy, bass, balalaika.
References / Works Cited:
1. Wikipedia (n.d.). Retrieved from https://wikipedia.org/
2. Random Book Title (2022). Academic Publishing House.
