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The Belgian Jazzmen(4)

PHILIP CATHERINE

DJANGO REINHARDT

Django Reinhardt is probably one of the most influential Jazz guitarist that was... but with no real musical posterity.
He was certainly one of the precursors showing how guitar playing could be developed to fit Jazz. But he did this in such a way for the music itself that the Jazz of Reinhardt was totally innovative and personal. The style he created due to his technique and mixed Gipsy inspirations was appealing to the general public as well during his days of pre-WWII.
Highly innovative, developing swing era rhythms with fine intricate melody lines his guitar playing influenced all the Jazz guitarists that came after him. On the contrary, his music itself in its style and inspiration had no followers of value.

JEAN-BAPTISTE REINHARDT... A BELGIAN?
Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt was born in 1910 in Liverchies a village of the Southern part of Belgium. His family was Gipsy and they were French speaking. So 'technically' Django is Belgian!
But how to nationalize Gipsies, these children of the wind?
Apparently a lot of people did as Reinhardt is mostly presented as a French musician.
Well... I couldn't resist*** As our French friends from France so often 'adopted' so many famous Belgians in the past to make them appear as French in their lists, encyclopedias and memorials, I listed Django in my famous Belgian Jazzmen
But in this case, French or Belgian doesn't't matter. Django and his music are the real concern. So, here we go...

GIPSY DJANGO!
From his youth, learning the violin until in 1928 a fire crippled a few fingers in his left hand, nothing directed him strictly to the guitar. However abandoning the violin due to his hand problem, he finally managed to continue to play the guitar by developing a hand technique of his own. In the Gipsy world, music is something very present so sources of inspiration were a plenty for the guitar player. He finally became a professional musician in 1930 plying for French singers, all this until he met Jazz music and understood the potential that was there.
At the contact of French musicians playing Jazz, he developed his skills for this type of music. And rapidly came to play in small Jazz orchestras. In 1934, his meeting with Stephane Grappelly the violinist made them to create one of the most famous Jazz combo of all times: the Quintette du Hot Club de France. This all string quintet was to revolution the Jazz of the time!

WORLDWIDE FAMOUS DJANGO...

The quintet was incredibly successful and Django Reinhardt became a star of the 30s! His technique and skill for improvisation made that a lot of famous American musicians did all they could to play and to record with him, either when they toured Europe for concerts or coming specially over to Europe just to meet Django!
His Gipsy background made it difficult for Django to go to America: there is a curse attached to the crossing over of the 'big water'... It was only after many hesitations and a lot of pushing from his friends that he crossed the Atlantic ocean and went to America in...1946.
In between, WWII cut France and Belgium from the rest of the free world, by the Nazi occupation between 1940 and 1945. As everything English and American was banned, the fame of Django was reinforced in Continental Europe as he chose to stay in France during the war.
During this period, Django created his most successful compositions, like 'Nuages' played with Hubert Rostaing on the clarinet, 'Place De Brouckère' named after a central place in Brussels were he came to play very often, 'Manoir de mes Rêves' and so many other themes that became classics.
Something special: as he could not write music, all his compositions were made by him on instruments first and transposed by hear to paper by his fellows musicians!!

AFTER WWII...
Grappelly stayed in London for the duration of the war, and Django met him again only in 1946, in a memorable session that was recorded in London, with under others: 'Echoes of France' tittle for the jazzification of the Marseillaise, French national anthem; this rendition was banned from the French radio and from any public performance until early 1970s, due to a stupid censorship seeing it as:..unrespectful!!
However Django could never rebuild a quintet with Grappelly.
The tour in America was not a great success for Reinhardt: Jazz had too much evolved since 1939... The prewar European musicians missed this important time of evolution due to the German blackout. Further there was the emergence of a new instrument: amplified guitar... With a genius as early explorer: the young Charlie Christian. All this made Django unfit for the new Modern Jazz scene. He however tried to keep up and started to play the electric guitar as well, with mixed success.
Nobody can say if his playing with the Modern Jazz players in Paris from 1950 would have bring something new from him. After a kind of pause in his musical career, he suddenly died in 1953.

Django is a milestone in the history of Jazz and an influential musician for the playing of the guitar; for European guitarists he became an absolute must for the technique and clear sound.

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LISTEN TO DJANGO REINHARDT
All recordings of Django's sessions were published originally on 78RPM during his peak (1934 to 1947). So selecting re-editions of his music will have to consider the quality of the technical transposition to LP or CD, as well.
There are numerous re-issues, differently mixed and of variable sonic qualities. I would suggest the following :

Django Reinhardt L'Inoubliable - Django the Unforgettable - very good compilation of 20 of his best known Jazz renditions from 1936 to 1946; can serve as an introduction and a base for his music... Includes the infamous censored rendition of the 'Marseillaise'. Very good cover liners in English and French. Re-issued on CD by EMI/France

Souvenirs - Memories - Very good selection of recordings made all in England by Decca in 1938,39 and 1946. Good historical notes about Django's life and exemplary discography with all issued ref nb of the original recordings. Re-issued on CD by London/Decca

Django Reinhardt in Brussels - A rarity compiled on CD. During 1942 Django sneaked in a clandestine recording set-up in Brussels, with two Belgian big bands. It was in the midst of WWII and Django as a Gipsy was never sure of his faith (the Germans chased them for elimination since the beginning of their hegemony in Europe). And Jazz was banned by the Germans. Finally the sessions were cut on discs by the small Belgian label: Rythme.
The 16 pieces selected are made with the support of the Fud Candrix Orchestra (Candrix being a prominent Jazz sax player) and of the Stan Brenders Orchestra, another Belgian band. Musically interesting: on two tunes Django played the violin!! There is also an unusual rendition of 'Nuages' where the big Orchestra lent to the dance sound of the period, projecting the guitar soloist in front.
Very good technical salvage by Dutch engineer Bart Oranje : he chose to let the clicks and pops of the old 78RPM in order to keep the full acoustic range of the original discs.
CD on Verve- Compact Jazz series / Polygram.

The Complete Sessions - Mosaic Records (USA) recently produced a set of 6 CDs grouping all the sessions Django recorded for Swing (French label of the time) and HMV, from 1936 to 1948. Mosaic Records, reputed for its fine re-issues of modern Jazz records in limited editions, once again did a fine job with the Django set, giving all the details and references for each session.
A must for Django fans. (ref: