DJANGO REINHARDT 1910 -1953
 Django
Reinhardt has astounded and thrilled numerous generations of guitar
players and jazz lovers with his amazing command of the guitar. January
24th, 1910 at Liberchies Belgium, Django was born into the open air,
rambling lifestyle of his gypsy parents. At the age of eight, his
mother's tribe settled near the belt of fortifications that surrounded
the old Paris, near the
Choisy gate. He never wore a suit or lived in a real house until he was
twenty years old. These French Gypsies or Manouches were a world unto
themselves, medieval in their beliefs, and distrustful of modern
science. Django grew up in this world of contradictions, one foot in the
bustling big city of Paris and the other in the age-old life of the
nomadic gypsy. Though born into poverty Django had the soul of a
nobleman and this natural elegance of bearing and attitude expressed
itself in his music.
It was at an early age Django became attracted to music. When twelve
years old he received his first instrument, a banjo/guitar that was
given to him by a neighbor who had noticed his keen interest in music.
He quickly learned to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he
watched. He was soon astounding adults with his ability on the guitar,
and before he was thirteen he began his musical career playing with
popular accordionist Guerino at a dance hall on the Rue Monge. He went
on to play with numerous other bands and musicians and made his first
recordings with accordionist Jean Vaissade for the Ideal Company. Since
Django could not read or write at the time "Jiango Renard" was
how his name appeared on these records.
On November 2nd, 1928 an event took place that would forever change
Django's life. At one o'clock in the morning the 18 year old Django
returned from a night of playing music at a new club "La Java"
to the caravan that was now the home of himself and his new wife. The
caravan was filled with celluloid flowers his wife had made to sell at
the market on the following day. Django upon hearing what he thought was
a mouse among the flowers bent down with a candle to look. The wick from
the candle fell into the highly flammable celluloid flowers and the
caravan was almost instantly transformed into a raging inferno. Django
wrapped himself in a blanket to shield him from the flames. Somehow he
and his wife made it across the blazing room to safety outside, but his
left hand, and his right side from knee to waist were badly burned.
Initially doctors wanted to amputate his leg but Django refused. He was
moved to a nursing
home where the care was so good his leg was saved.
Django was bedridden for eighteen months. During this time he was given
a guitar, and with great determination Django created a whole new
fingering system built around the two fingers on his left hand that had
full mobility. His fourth and fifth digits of the left hand were
permanently curled towards the palm due to the tendons shrinking from
the heat of the fire. He could use them on the first two strings of the
guitar for chords and octaves but complete extension of these fingers
was impossible. His soloing was all done with the index and middle
fingers! Film clips of Django show his technique to be graceful and
precise, almost defying belief.
Django was influenced by jazz recordings of Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti,
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. This new music found a place deep in
Django's heart. It provided the perfect vehicle for his prodigious
talent for improvisation. Django rarely if ever played a solo the same
way twice. Numerous recordings prove this to be true. His creative
genius was not only that of the master improviser, but also that of the
composer, and he can be credited with numerous pieces with beautiful
melodies and sophisticated, subtle harmonic structures. However, Django
could not read or write musical notation and he was at the mercy of
others that could to get his ideas down on paper.
1934 proved to be the most important year of his life. The Quintet of
the Hot Club of France was born! As the fates would have it, the Quintet
was formed by a chance meeting of Django and Stéphane Grappelli. A band
of fourteen musicians including Django, Stéphane, Roger Chaput, and
Louis Vola were commissioned to play at the Hotel Cambridge at teatime.
During intermission Django would find a corner backstage and play his
guitar. One day Stéphane joined in and both were so pleased with the
exchange they went on to play together more and more frequently joined
by Roger Chaput (guitar), Louis Vola (bass), and eventually Django's
brother Joseph (guitar). A small record company Ultraphone recorded
their first sides Dinah, Tiger Rag, Oh Lady be Good, and I Saw Stars.
These first records caused a sensation! The Quintet went on to record
hundreds of sides and had a following on both sides of the ocean.
 1939 found the Quintet
touring in England when the war broke out. Django returned to Paris
while Stéphane remained in England. Django played and recorded
throughout the war years substituting Hubert Rostaing's clarinet for
Stephen's violin. He somehow avoided the fate of many of his kinfolk who
went to their deaths in the Nazi concentration camps. After the war he
was rejoined by Stéphane and they again played and recorded. He toured
briefly with Duke Ellington in America and returned to Paris where he
continued his career until 1951 when he retired to the small village of
Samois sur Seine.
On May 16th 1953 Django suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died,
leaving behind his wife Sophie and son Babik. His music remains as vital
and exciting today as it was when he lived, a legacy of joy to all
future generations that rediscover the genius of the Belgian gypsy
Django Reinhardt. ~ Joseph Dinkins
ry Gallagher is the man who, without question, spearheaded and
influenced the entire Irish rock movement.
DISCOGRAPHY
ALBUMS
1945
Paris 1945 1947 Ellingtonia - with the Rex Stewart Band - Dial 215 1949
Djangology 1951 Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club Quintet 1951 At Club
St. Germain 1953 Django Reinhardt et Ses Rythmes 1954 The Great Artistry
of Django Reinhardt 1955 Django's Guitar 1959 Django Reinhardt and His
Rhythm 1980 Routes to Django Reinhardt 1991 Django Reinhardt - Pêche à
la Mouche: The Great Blue Star Sessions 1947/1953 1996 Imagine 2001 All
Star Sessions 2001 Jazz in Paris: Swing 39 2002 Djangology (remastered)
(recorded in 1948, discovered, remastered and released by Bluebird
Records) 2003 Jazz in Paris: Nuages 2003 Jazz in Paris: Nuits de Saint-Germain
des-Prés 2004 Le Génie Vagabond 2008 Django on the Radio (radio
broadcasts, 1945 - 1953)
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