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Django Reinhardt
Django
Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure
to emerge from Europe - and he remains the most influential
European to this day, with possible competition from Joe
Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort
Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited
gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the
world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on
a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling
the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz
combo in the days before amplification became widespread.
He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos
above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass,
with Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the
perfect foil. His harmonic concepts were startling for
their time - making a direct impression upon Charlie Christian
and Les Paul, among others - and he was an energizing
rhythm guitarist behind Grappelli, pushing their groups
into a higher gear. Not only did Reinhardt put his stamp
upon jazz, his string-band music also had an impact upon
the parallel development of Western swing, which eventually
fed into the wellspring of what is now called country
music. Although he could not read music, with Grappelli
and on his own, Reinhardt composed several winsome, highly
original tunes like "Daphne," "Nuages"
and "Manoir de mes reves," as well as mad swingers
like "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record
label of the `30s, "Stomping At Decca." As the
late Ralph Gleason said about Django's recordings, "They
were European and they were French and they were still
jazz."
A violinist first and a guitarist later, Jean Baptiste
"Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near
Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music.
A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left
hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth
fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figured out a novel
fingering system to get around the problem that probably
accounts for some of the originality of his style. According
to one story, during his recovery period, Reinhardt was
introduced to American jazz when he found a 78 RPM disc
of Louis Armstrong's "Dallas Blues" at an Orleans
flea market. He then resumed his career playing in Parisian
cafes until one day in 1934 when Hot Club chief Pierre
Nourry proposed the idea of an all-string band to Reinhardt
and Grappelli. Thus was born the Quintet of the Hot Club
of France, which quickly became an international draw
thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca
and HMV recordings.
The
outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with
Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing
and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years,
he led a big band, another quintet with clarinetist
Hubert Rostaing in place of Grappelli, and after the
liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American
jazzmen as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko and Ray McKinley.
In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured
America as a soloist with the Duke Ellington band but
his appearances were poorly received. Some of his recordings
on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades
where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world
apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting
in Jan. 1946, Reinhardt and Grappelli held several sporadic
reunions where the bop influences are more subtly integrated
into the old, still-fizzing swing format. In the 1950s,
Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe,
playing and recording now and then until his death from
a stroke in 1953. His Hot Club recordings from the `30s
are his most irresistible legacy; their spirit and sound
can be felt in current groups like Holland's Rosenberg
Trio.
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Django
Reinhardt - Complete Studio Recordings [BOX SET]
JSP's follow-up to their must-have bargain-priced box set
of Django Reinhardt's early recordings is every bit as essential
and fascinating for lovers of jazz guitar. Between 1937
and 1948, the world's best-known gypsy guitarist was leading
some of the hottest jazz groups in Europe, with some of
the most innovative arrangements imaginable. The story behind
these sessions is almost as memorable as the material--somehow
Reinhardt, despite being a gypsy, prospered through Nazi-occupied
France while his peers either fled or perished. Due to the
war, the classic lineup of the Quintet of the Hot Club of
France evolved and eventually splintered into two groups--one
with Stephane Grappelli on violin, another replacing him
with the clarinet of Hubert Rostaing. But regardless of
Reinhardt's accompaniment, the music-making heard here is
nothing short of astounding. Whether swinging through standards
("All of Me," "I Can't Give You Anything
But Love," "Sweet Georgia Brown") or performing
some of his classic originals ("Nuages," "Swing
42"), whether alone ("Improvisations," "Tea
for Two") or backed by more than a dozen friends ("Festival
Swing"), this is some of Reinhardt's best music. JSP's
remastering and transfers on these 60-year-old 78s is the
finest yet available. Essential for swing fans, guitarists,
or anyone wanting to know more about the history of jazz.
- Jason Verlinde Order
here from Amazon.com
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"Play
What You Hear" author Chris Standring has a brand
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with two Fender Strats. Standring plays the Benedetto on
the balance of the tracks on Love & Paragraphs, which
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Soul”; the hypnotic and jazzy, trip-chill blues jazz
pop jam “Ooh Bop” (highlighted by Standring’s
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samba “That’s What I Thought You Said” and
the lush and romantic, synth orchestra-enhanced “Reflection,”
which closes the set in a cool and dramatic film score-like
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Preview the album online
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Learn
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Get the transcription & play along set and download:
Original album track recording in mp3 format * Play along
album track (without solo guitar) in mp3 format * Midi file
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