Django Reinhardt | Artist

Jean "Django" Reinhardt was a Romani-Belgian jazz guitarist and composer born 1910 in Liberchies, Belgium. "Django" was his Romani (Gypsy) nickname. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of greatest guitarist of all time. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. Growing up, Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he started playing the violin, banjo and guitar. He was able to make a living playing music by the time he was 15, busking in cafés, often with his brother Joseph. He received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life. In 1928, at the age of 18 he made his first recordings playing the banjo-guitar accompanying the accordionists Maurice Alexander, Jean Vaissade and Victor Marceau, and the singer Maurice Chaumel. His name was now drawing international attention, such as from British bandleader Jack Hylton who came to France just to hear him play. Hylton offered him a job on the spot, and Reinhardt accepted. However before he had a chance to start with the band, Reinhardt nearly died when a candle caused a blaze in the wagon he and his wife shared. With extensive burns over half his body Reinhardt lost the use of the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand. Doctors believed he would never play guitar again but he applied himself intensely to regain his playing ability by focusing on his left index and middle fingers, using the two injured fingers only for chord work. With a developing interest in jazz, Reinhardt met Stéphane Grappelli, a young violinist with similar musical interests. From 1934 until the outbreak of WWII in 1939, the pair worked together as the principal soloists of their newly formed group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France, in Paris. It became the most accomplished and innovative European jazz group of the period. Reinhardt survived WWII living in Paris, despite the Nazi purge of much of the Romani population. After the war, Reinhardt rejoined Grappelli in the UK and in the autumn of 1946, made his first tour in the US as guest soloist with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. At the end of the tour, Reinhardt played two nights at Carnegie Hall in New York City where he received a standing ovation and took six curtain calls on the first night. Reinhardt's virtuosity, incorporating many gypsy-derived influences, was also matched with a superb sense of melodic invention as well as general musicality in terms of choice of notes, timing, dynamics, and tonal range from an instrument previously thought by many critics as limited in expression. Playing completely by ear (he could neither read nor write music), he roamed freely across the full range of the fretboard giving full flight to his musical imagination and could play with ease in any key. Django Reinhardt died suddenly of a stroke in 1953 at the age of 43. Since the mid-sixties, there has been a revival of interest in his music, a revival that has extended into the 21st century.

Artist Website: wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt

Featured Albums: Django Reinhardt

Related Artists: Stephane Grappelli, Quintette du Hot Club de France, Duke Ellington