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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 Recodings (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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