Key of E, capo 4, standard tuning My take on "Riverside Blues" by King Oliver's Jazz Band (featuring Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, Johnny Dodds, Honore Dutrey, Lil Hardin-Armstrong, Bill Johnson, and King Oliver).
Video here

Key of D (drop-D tuning) Inspired by Ry Cooder's version, this tune is full of swing and syncopation.
Video here

G position, capo 6 Another rumba tune by Malawian guitarist Daniel Kachamba. Video here

(Key of F, advanced) A guitar arrangement of Fats Waller's timeless classic.

Video here

(Key of E, Open E Tuning with slide) This is an original composition, a studio version of which has been released on my latest album Beauty In The Dirt.

Studio Version

Video

(Key of D, drop D tuning, advanced) My own modest version of this great number, influenced a bit by Joseph Spence and Ry Cooder, but probably simplified compared to their fantastic, virtuosic renditions!

Video here

(Key of Dm) An original composition, my brother Yann and I regularly perform this song and it is featured on the Seznec Bros 2011 album Jagged Land (Captain Pouch Records).

The album version is here

Video here

(Key of C, intermediate) By Luke Jordan, 1927; arranged by C. Seznec. I love Luke Jordan. His high-pitched croon and laid-back guitar style get me every time. Here’s a ragtime arrangement of one of his more popular tunes with lyrics, chord diagrams, and notes.

Video here

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(Key of A, Intermediate-Advanced) An arrangement of the old blues classic "Corinna Corinna" in a New Orleans rumba style.

Video here

(Key of G, guitar drop D, advanced) A "pianistic" arrangement of the lovely old spiritual by C. Austin Miles full of moving bass lines and heavy syncopation.

Video here

(Key of E) A very different arrangement of the old Blind Willie McTell classic, with a chorus to boot.

Studio version

Video

(Key of E or Bb if played on low-tuned 12-string, Easy-Intermediate) This is a basic transcription of the 1933 rendition of Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver's great off-kilter rag.

Original recording here.

(Key of C, Intermediate-Advanced) This is as close to a note-for-note transcription as I could get of the great Big Bill Broonzy number "Friendless Blues", recorded in 1934 with pianist Bob "Black Bob" McCall.

Original recording here.

(Key of C, intermediate/advanced) This is an original composition inspired by the falling leaves of the ginkgo trees that decorated my street in Brooklyn, NY where I used to live.

Video here

(Key of C, advanced) Traditional African-American Spiritual, arranged for the guitar by C. Seznec.

Video here transposed down a whole step to Bb, with subtle differences in the arrangement (I will try to post a new vid soon).

(Key of G, dropped D tuning, intermediate-advanced) This arrangement is based on the piano arrangement by J. Rosamond Johnson found in The Book of American Negro Spirituals, edited by James Weldon Johnson and published by The Viking Press in 1925.

Video here

(Key of F, advanced) By Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five originally entitled "Cornet Chop Suey", arranged for the guitar by C. Seznec. This is one of my favorite Hot Five numbers.

Video here (a slightly older version of the arrangement).

(Key of C, intermediate-advanced) This is my transcription of Blind Blake's classic rendition of "He's In The Jailhouse Now".

Listen to Blake's version here. Video coming soon (hopefully!)...

(Key of C, advanced)This is my transcription/arrangement of Snooks Eaglin's masterful interpretation of the traditional jazz number "High Society".

Video here

(Key of E, open tuning, intermediate) As close to a note-for-note transcription of this great Bo Carter tune as I could get.

Listen to the song here

(Key of A, Intermediate) One of my favorite Bo Carter tunes, heavily influenced by Neil Harpe's playing.

Videos here:
Faster version
Slower Version

(Key of C, advanced) This here is my rendition of the old jazz classic composed by Isham Jones. Albeit inspired by Merle Travis, I make no attempts to sound just like Merle - this is more my own vulgarization of the tune than anything else!

Video here

(Key of C, Advanced) This is my arrangement of the great melancholic jazz standard composed by Billy Mayhew in 1936.

Video here

(Key of F, Intermediate-Advanced) This is a transcription of a song I wrote several years ago and recorded with accordion on the Groanbox album "Smokestack Trilogy".

Video here

(Key of A, B, or Bb, Intermediate-Advanced) This is as close as I could get to a note-for-note transcription of the great Robert Johnson tune "Kind Hearted Woman Blues".

Listen to Robert Johnson's version here. Will try to get a video up at some point!

(Key of G, Intermediate/Advanced) Known as the "Black National Anthem", this beautiful song was composed in 1905 by J. Rosamond Johnson with lyrics from a poem written by his brother James Weldon Johnson in 1900.
Video here

(Key of C, Intermediate/Advanced) This is as respectful a tab arrangement as possible of the great Big Bill Broonzy number. What you get in the tab is as close as I could get to what you hear in his 1932 recording.

Video here

(Key of E, Advanced) This is my arrangement/rendition of Snooks Eaglin's great version of the classic tune "Looking For A Woman". It's an attempt to do a fingerstyle guitar version of the great New Orleans rumba piano sound.

Video here

(Key of A, advanced) By Scott Joplin, arranged for the guitar by C. Seznec. A bouncy, boogie-woogie/blues rendition of Joplin’s classic.

Video here

Guitar tuned to FADGBE, capo 8 This is my take on Malawian guitarist Daniel Kachamba's 12/8 scorcher "Mmati n'khalenawo".
Video here

C position capo 3 Variations on Kenyan musician Herbert Misango's great tune "Msichana Auma". Video here

D position, Guitar capo 6 This is an arrangement of the late great Daniel Kachamba's rumba-style composition "N.C.", which can be viewed on this film.
More information on Kachamba can be found here.
Video here

(Key of E, open E tuning, advanced) A fingerstyle version of Cool John Ferguson's virtuosic instrumental rendition of the old gospel tune "No Hiding Place Down There".

Video here

(Key of G, Advanced) This is as close to a note-for-note transcription of the 1935 recording of Reverend Gary Davis' Oh Lord Search My Heart as I could get.

Listen to RGD's version here. Will try to get a video up at some point!

(Key of C, Advanced Intermediate) A guitar arrangement of the great jazz standard written in 1930 by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields.

Video here

(Key of G, advanced) Traditional Gospel number composed by the Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey in 1932, arranged for the guitar by C. Seznec.

Video here

(Key of F, advanced) This is a guitar arrangement of an African-American spiritual (not the sea shanty!) found in the incredible music book "The Book of American Negro Spirituals," edited by James Weldon Johnson, musical arrangements by J. Rosamond Johnson, copyright 1925, New York: Viking Press.

Video here

(Key of Am/C, Intermediate-Advanced) As close as I my ears could get to a note-for-note transcription of this majestic Blind Blake number recorded in 1931!

Video here

(Key of G, capo 7th fret, advanced intermediate/advanced) This is an original I-IV-V ditty I put together based on central African rumba style guitar playing.

Video here

Guitar capo 6 I love this omutibo tune by William Osale and Julius Kimondio featured on the album "Real One Man Guitar". Between the emphasis on the offbeat and the heavy syncopation, what more does one need?
Video here

(Key of A, advanced) By Leo Wood, 1918; arranged for the guitar by C. Seznec. This is one of my favorite hot jazz tunes that I first learned off of Jim Kweskin, then Fats Waller, and subsequently a host of other greats.

Here is a video of an older version. I will try and get a higher fidelity version up in the near future...

Key of D, drop D Tuning A funky arrangement of the old Welsh Folk song "The Ash Grove", akin to my arrangement of "The Parting Glass" but with extra movement in the bass and more elaborate variations. Video here

Key of Em Another bastardized arrangement of a traditional tune...this time "The Blackest Crow". I wanted to feel like I was in some small church in the countryside to contrast with the reality of me being in my kids' bedroom so I put a little extra reverb on the vocals.
Video here

Key of Ab / Db This is an arrangement of the Joplin classic "The Easy Winners" for fingerstyle guitar, with guitar tuned up a half-step (or with capo on the 1st fret) and played out of the G-position (and subsequently C-position).
Video version in Ab (guitar tuned up half-step) with violin here.
Solo guitar version in standard tuning without repeats here.
FYI the guitar accompaniment when the violin takes the lead is not provided. The tab is for solo guitar.

(Key of D, guitar capo 2, advanced) This is a totally unorthodox, Africanized version of the traditional Scottish tear-jerker. Influenced by east African guitar styles, particularly the 12/8 rhythmic drive of Ethiopian and Zimbabwean music, it features polyrhythms, rolls, and other riffs and licks that might interest those interested in adding a more African touch to their fingerstyle game.

Video here.
Here is the audio version.

(Key of E, intermediate-advanced) Traditional Gospel number, arranged for the guitar by C. Seznec.

Video here

(Key of G, Intermediate) An arrangement of Blind Blake's great rag, influenced by guitarist Parrish Ellis.

Video here

(Key of C, advanced) My rendition of the great Reverend Gary Davis piece.

Video here

(Key of E, Advanced) This is a tune that my Grandfather used to sing on the accordion with a totally different melody. I think it's an English drinking song that he picked up in the Navy. I set it to a blues as I thought the lyrical content was straight up Hokum!

Video here

(Open G, Intermediate) This is a fairly close transcription of Bo Carter's great tune "Who's Been Here".

Video here