I think this was the first video I ever saw of Stuff playing. I remember being super excited to hear some things I was always looking for in a jazz violinist. Groove, grit and jazz melody.

Come join me on the Isle of Wight next October 2nd-5th for learning, jamming and hanging out! https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/pages/django-weekend-2026

🏅The Challenge🎻 You have two options: 1. Take a line that you often play in C Major and learn to play it in Eb, Gb/F# and A. 2. Just learn my line in all of those keys (shown in the video) Then post it on here, you will get some feedback and encouragement from me and the group! As a thank you for taking part il send you a transcription of this line! ❓Why do this⁉️ Learning lines in major or minor thirds really helps you learn lines properly. It also gets you working out how you might change position or fingering for each key to make it work for you. There’s usually some way to play any piece of jazz language in each keys that will work, doing this sort of transposition helps you find the gaps you have in your technique whilst solidifying jazz language.

I found this interesting quote in the Musical Human by Michael Spizer.

Go on, let’s hear it! My favourite living jazz violinist might be Ola Kvernberg https://youtu.be/ktVELUG8OKk?si=lR9AXKZSyQOXB6X9 My favourite jazz violinist from history is Stuff Smith. https://youtu.be/-yWnOCy3_qY?si=aeRaIy-ht3Zrrvuq