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Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe -- and he remains the most influentialEuropean to thisday, with
possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort StephaneGrappelli and a bare handful ofothers. 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 humbleacoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days beforeamplification became widespread. He would s ...read more
Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe -- and he remains the most influentialEuropean to thisday, with
possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort StephaneGrappelli and a bare handful ofothers. 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 humbleacoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days beforeamplification became widespread. He would spin
joyous,arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitarsand a bass, with Grappelli's elegantlygliding violin serving as
the perfect foil. His harmonic concepts were startling for their time -- making adirect impression uponCharlie Christian and Les Paul, among others -- and
he was an energizing rhythm guitarist behind Grappelli, pushingtheirgroups into a higher gear. Not only did Reinhardt put his stamp upon jazz, his string
band music also had an impact upon theparalleldevelopment of Western swing, which eventually fed into the wellspring of what is now called country
music. Althoughhe could not readmusic, with Grappelli and on his own, Reinhardt composed several winsome, highly original tunes like"Daphne,"
"Nuages" and "Manoir de MesReves," as well as mad swingers like "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label ofthe '30s, "Stomping at Decca." As the
late RalphGleason said about Django's recordings, "They were European and they wereFrench and they were still jazz."A violinist first and a guitaristlater,
Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbedthe gypsy strain into his music. A disastrouscaravan fire in 1928
badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of thefourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figuredout a novel fingering system to
get around the problem thatprobably accounts for some of the originality of his style. According to one story,during his recovery period, Reinhardt
wasintroduced to American jazz when he found a 78 RPM disc of Louis Armstrong's "Dallas Blues" at anOrleans flea market. Hethen resumed his career
playing in Parisian cafes until one day in 1934 when Hot Club chief Pierre Nourry proposedthe idea ofan all-string band to Reinhardt and Grappelli. Thus
was born the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which quickly becameaninternational draw thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca and
HMV recordings.The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up theQuintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing andReinhardt
returning to France. During the war years, he led abig band, another quintet with clarinetist Hubert Rostaing inplace of Grappelli, and after the liberation
of Paris, recorded with such visitingAmerican jazzmen as Mel Powell, PeanutsHucko and Ray McKinley. In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and
toured America as asoloist with the DukeEllington band but his appearances were poorly received. Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life
arebopescapades 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 swingformat. In the 1950s,
Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording now andthen until his death from astroke in 1953. His Hot Club recordings
from the `30s are his most irresistible legacy; their spiritand sound can be felt in current groups likeHolland's Rosenberg Trio. « hide |
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