A Tribute To Johnny Gimble: Thinking About Swing

A Tribute To Johnny Gimble: Thinking About Swing 

- Keenan Fletcher

“How do you think about swing?”

The first time I met Johnny Gimble, he asked me how I thought about swing. I thought he was mistaken, so I (a classical violinist) politely corrected him. “You mean ‘what do I think about swing?’” He smiled his famous Gimble smile and asked me again. “How do you think about swing?” I thought for a moment… I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. I told him I knew I couldn’t learn it from a book, and that is why I wanted to meet him. He smiled again and told me to grab his guitar and back him up. Me? Back up the great Johnny Gimble? Should I remind him I don’t really play the guitar?

We sat on the floor, playing “Sweet Georgia Brown” for what seemed like hours (where was my darn recorder?). Then the most amazing fiddle player in the world played backup for me, an awkward swingin’ wanna-be. Johnny invited me back the next day, and that was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Johnny Gimble was hands down, the greatest swing fiddler of all time. Johnny paved the way for future generations of great western swing musicians. He was in a league all his own. Johnny’s style was distinct, and his character was contagious. I once told him I wanted to play like him. Johnny said, “If you play like me… who’s gonna play like you?” He always seemed to say the right thing to make any musician, no matter what level, seem special.