Django Reinhardt

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Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt (January 23, 1910 – May 16, 1953) was a Belgian Roma jazz musician. He was one of the first important jazz musicians to be born in Europe, and one of the most important jazz guitarists of all time. His most renowned tunes include "Minor Swing", "Tears", "Belleville" and "Nuages" (French, meaning "Clouds"). Django is pronounced jang go.

Contents

1 Biography
2 Trivia

2.1 Influence on, admiration by other musicians
2.2 Distinctive Features
2.3 Reinhardt in popular culture

3 Discography
4 See also
5 External links

Biography

Born in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Basque gypsy encampments close to Paris, playing banjo, guitar and violin from an early age professionally at dance halls in Paris. He started first on the violin and eventually moved on to a banjo-guitar that had been given to him, and his first known recordings (in 1928) were of him playing the banjo (a banjo guitar has either 4 or 5 strings. The 5-string banjo is tuned to a first inversion G major chord 1st string - D 2nd string - B 3rd string - G 4th string - D 5th string - G).

Django Reinhardt as a boy

At the age of 18, Reinhardt was injured in a fire that ravaged the caravan he shared with Bella, his first wife. She made imitation flowers out of celluloid and paper for her living. Consequently, their home was full of the highly flammable material. Returning from a performance late one night, Django allegedly knocked over a candle on his way to bed. While his family and neighbors were quick to pull him to safety, he received first and second degree burns over half his body. His right leg was paralyzed, and his left, or fretting, hand was badly burnt. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again. Furthermore, they intended to amputate the leg. But he left the hospital after a short time. Within a year, he was able to walk with use of a cane.

His brother, Joseph Reinhardt, (an accomplished guitarist in his own right) brought Django a new guitar. With painful rehabilatation and practice, Django relearned his craft in a completely new way, even as his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralyzed. He was still able to use these two fingers for playing chords, but was unable to use them for playing solos.

In 1934, Louis Vola formed the "Quintette du Hot Club de France" with Reinhardt, violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput on guitar, and Louis Vola on bass. He produced numerous recordings at this time and played with many American Jazz legends such as Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Rex Stewart and Louis Armstrong.

Reinhardt could not read nor write music, and was allegedly illiterate.

As World War II was declared, the quintet was on tour in the United Kingdom. Reinhardt returned to Paris at once, leaving his wife behind. Grappelli remained in the United Kingdom for the duration of the war, and Reinhardt reformed the quintet in Paris with Hubert Rostaing on clarinet in place of Grappelli's violin.

Reinhardt survived World War II unscathed, unlike many other gypsies who perished in the concentration death camps of the Nazis. He had the help of a Luftwaffe official named Dietrich Schulz-Köhn, also known as Doktor Jazz, who deeply admired his music. In 1943 he married Sophie Ziegler in Salbris, with whom he had a son, Babik Reinhardt, who went on to become a respected guitarist in his own right.

After the war, Reinhardt rejoined Grappelli in the UK, and went on to tour the United States, opening for Duke Ellington, and playing at Carnegie Hall, with many notable musicians and composers such as Maury Deutsch. Despite Reinhardt's great pride in touring with Ellington (one of his two letters to Grappelli relates this excitment), he wasn't really integrated into the band, playing only a few tunes at the end of the show, with no special arrangements for him. Also, he was used to playing the Selmer Maccaferri, the guitar he made famous, but he was required to play a new amplified model. After "going electric", the results were not as much liked by fans. He returned to France with broken dreams, but continued to play and make many recordings.

Django Reinhardt was among the first people in France to appreciate and understand the music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie whom he sought after when he arrived in New York. Unfortunately they were all on tour.

After returning to France, Django spent the remainder of his days going back to gypsy life, finding it hard to adjust to modern life. One of the most enigmatic events was when Reinhardt abandoned a newly-purchased car on the side of a road because it had run out of gasoline.

The Concept of "Lead Guitar" (Django) and backing "Rhythm Guitars" (Joseph Reinhardt/Roger Chaput) was born with the Quintette Du Hot Club De France , without percussion instruments they used the rhythm guitars to serve this purpose.

He later formed a new band with saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass and drums. He continued composing, and is regarded as among the most advanced guitar players of jazz music.

In 1951, he retired to Samois sur Seine, France, near Fontainebleau. He lived there for two years until May 16, 1953, when, while returning from the Avon train station, he collapsed outside his house from a brain hemorrhage. It took a full day for a doctor to arrive and Django was declared dead on arrival at the hospital in Fontainebleau.

Trivia

Influence on, admiration by other musicians

Chet Atkins was once asked to name the ten greatest guitarists of the 20th century. He placed Django at #1 on the list (he placed himself at fifth position).
Reinhardt is the idol of the fictional 1930's guitarist, Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn), who passes out upon meeting Django in the Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown (1999).
Jimi Hendrix, is said to have named one of his bands the Band of Gypsies because of Django's music.
The Allman Brothers Band song Jessica was written by guitarist Dickey Betts in tribute to Reinhardt. He wanted to write a song that could be played using only two fingers.
A song titled "Django," composed by John Lewis, has become a jazz standard.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi was inspired by Reinhardt to keep playing guitar after a factory accident that cost him two fingertips.
Former Slade singer Noddy Holder named his son Django.
Country music singer and guitar player Jerry Jeff Walker named his son Django (who is also a singer and guitar player).
Former Libertines guitarist, Carl Barat, has expressed on plenty of occasions his admiration for Django as well as his influence in his solo guitar technique.
In 2005 Django Reinhardt ended on the 66th place in the election of The Greatest Belgian (De Grootste Belg) in Flanders and on the 76th place in the Walloon version of the same competition Le plus grand belge.
British guitarist Diz Disley was strongly influenced by Django Reinhardt and collaborated on numerous projects with Stéphane Grappelli.
Bob Wills and Western Swing music is an off-shoot of Reinhardt's music.

Distinctive Features

Reinhardt and other guitarists of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France used a Selmer Maccaferri acoustic guitar.
The Quintet of the Hot Club of France was one of the few well-known jazz bands to have no drums or rhythm section. The percussive sounds were played on a guitar.

Reinhardt in popular culture

Reinhardt is portrayed in the opening sequence of the 2003 cartoon Les Triplettes de Belleville.
The song Johnny Depp plays in the river party scene in Lasse Hallström's Chocolat was Django and Grapelli's great hit, "Minor Swing".
Django's "Minor Swing" can be heard in the background during the oracle scene in The Matrix.
Djangos compositions Rhythm Futur (95 minute mark) and I Cant Give You Anything But Love (41 minute mark) are portrayed in the movie The Aviator.
His song Nuages is also in the movie Gattaca during a scene where Ethan Hawke demonstrates the clouds of Titan in a wine glass using smoke from his cigar.
The character Andre Custine has a double bass that had been played by Reinhardt, in the novel Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds.
His music is the background for the Steve Martin movie L.A. Story.
His music serves as the background for a number of Woody Allen movies, including Stardust Memories, where Woody's character plays a Django record.
He is portrayed by guitarist John Jorgenson in the movie Head in the Clouds.
The Beatles tune Piggies allegedly steals a melody from Grappelli's "Eveline" as recorded by Django.
The 2002 video game Mafia used songs "Minor Swing", "Rhythm Futur", "Vendredi", "Oiseaux des Iles", "Belleville", "Lentement, Mademoiselle", "Douce Ambiance", "Manoir de mes Rêves", "Echoes of France" and "Cavalerie" as the majority of the soundtrack.
Sealab 2021 paid tribute to Django in the episode "Bebop Cola". In it, Captain Murphy comments on a drink dispensed from the Bebop Cola machine: "Ahh, Mango Rheinhardt! The thinking man's pop!"
Harlan Ellison's short story "Django" is a fantasia about a guitarist, with similarities to Reinhardt.
"Honeysuckle Rose" can be heard in the background of the Central Park carriage ride scene in "Kate and Leopold"
The Django web framework, a Python web framework, was named after Reinhardt.
The main character in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown, played by Sean Penn, is a jazz guitarist who idolizes Reinhardt to the point of passing out every time they meet.

Discography

Releases

1945 Paris 1945
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
1996 Imagine
2001 All Star Sessions
2001
2003
2003
2004 Le Génie Vagabond

Compilations

Rétrospective Django Reinhardt 1934/53 (probably the most complete one)
The Django -- The Unforgettable
Django Reinhardt [Forlane]
Stardust Records Presents Django Reinhardt: Anthology 1934-1937
Django
The Art of Django
Quintet of the Hot Club of France [GNP]
Vol. 6: Nuages
Django Reinhardt and the Quintet
Django, Vol. 2 [ITI]
Djangologie/USA, Vols. 3 & 4

External links

[Film of Django playing alone and with his quintet, courtesy of WFMU's Beware of the Blog]

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