Django Reinhardt

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Django Reinhardt

Background information
Born 23 January 1910(1910-01-23)
Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium
Died 16 May 1953 (aged 43)
Fontainebleau, France
Genre(s) Romani music, Gypsy jazz, Continental Jazz, Jazz Manouche
Occupation(s) musician, composer
Instrument(s) guitar
Years active 1928–1953
Associated acts Stéphane Grappelli

Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt (January 23, 1910 – May 16, 1953) was a Belgian Sinto Gypsy jazz guitarist. He was one of the first prominent jazz musicians to be born in Europe, and one of the most renowned jazz guitarists of all time. His most renowned works include "My Sweet", "Minor Swing", "Tears", "Belleville", "Djangology" and "Nuages" (French, meaning "Clouds"). His name is pronounced [dʒɑ̃ŋgo ʀeˈnɑʀt].

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, Reinhardt spent most of his youth in gypsy encampments close to Paris, playing banjo, guitar and violin from an early age professionally at Bal-musette 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 six strings tuned in standard guitar tuning).

Django Reinhardt as a boy
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. They were very poor, and to supplement their income Bella made imitation flowers out of celluloid and paper. Consequently, their home was full of this highly flammable material. Returning from a performance late one night, Django apparently 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 the third and fourth fingers of his left hand were badly burnt. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again and intended to amputate one of his legs. Reinhardt refused to have the surgery and left the hospital after a short time; he was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane.

His brother Joseph Reinhardt, an accomplished guitarist himself, bought Django a new guitar. With painful rehabilitation and practice Django relearned his craft in a completely new way, even as his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralyzed. Hence, he used to play solos with only two fingers, and managed to use the two injured ones for some chords.

[edit] Career

Reinhardt (left) & Grappelli (right).
Reinhardt (left) & Grappelli (right).

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 himself on bass. Occasionally Chaput was replaced by Pierre "Baro" Ferret. The vocalist Freddie Taylor participated in a few songs, such as "Georgia On My Mind" and "Nagasaki". The concept of "lead guitar" (Django) and backing "rhythm guitar" (Joseph Reinhardt/Roger Chaput or Pierre Ferret) was born with that band. They also used their guitars for percussive sounds, as they had no true percussion section. The Quintet du Hot Club de France was one of the few well-known jazz bands to have no drums or percussion section.

Reinhardt later formed bands with more conventional instrumentations as with clarinet or saxophone, piano, bass and drums. He produced numerous recordings at this time with the quintet. But he played and recorded also with many American Jazz legends such as Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris), and a jam-session with jazz legend Louis Armstrong. Reinhardt could neither read nor write music, and was barely literate. Stéphane took the band's downtime to teach him.

[edit] WWII

As World War II was declared, the original 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. It was especially hard for Django's people because jazz itself was not allowed under Hitler's regime. He had the help of a Luftwaffe official named Dietrich Schulz-Köhn, also known as "Doktor Jazz", who deeply admired his music. In 1943 Django 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.

[edit] Post war

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 excitement), he wasn't really integrated into the band, playing only a few tunes at the end of the show, with no special arrangements written personally for him. He was used to his brother, Joseph, carrying around his guitar for him and tuning it. Allegedly, Reinhardt was given an untuned guitar to play with (discovered after strumming a chord) and it took him five whole minutes to tune it. Also, he was used to playing a Selmer Modèle Jazz, 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 re-immersed in gypsy life, having found it difficult to adjust to the modern world. He would sometimes show up for concerts without a guitar or amp, or wander off to the park or beach, and on a few occasions he refused even to get out of bed. Reinhardt was known by his band, fans, and managers to be extremely unpredictable. He would often skip sold-out concerts to simply "walk to the beach" or "smell the dew". However, he did continue to compose and is still regarded as one the most advanced jazz guitarists.

In 1948, Reinhardt recruited a few Italian jazz players (on bass, piano, and snare drum) and recorded one of his most acclaimed contributions, "Djangology", once again with Stephane Grappelli on violin. However, his experience in the U.S. left him influenced greatly by American jazz, making him a different person than the man Grappelli had known. But on this recording, Reinhardt switched back to his old roots, once again playing the Acoustic Selmer-Maccaferri. This recording was recently discovered by jazz enthusiasts and is now available in the U.S. and Europe. Reinhardt and other guitarists of the Quintette du Hot Club de France used Selmer acoustic guitars.

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.

[edit] Influence on and admiration by other musicians

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Many musicians have expressed admiration for Reinhardt (whose main influence was Eddie Lang), including guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, classical guitarist Julian Bream; country artist Chet Atkins, who placed Reinhardt #1 on a list of the ten most influential guitarists of the 20th century (he placed himself fifth); Latin rocker Carlos Santana; blues legend B.B. King; the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia; Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi; Jimi Hendrix; Shawn Lane; Stevie Ray Vaughan; Derek Trucks; Mark Knopfler; Les Paul; Joe Pass; Peter Frampton; Denny Laine; Jeff Beck; Jon Larsen; Steve Howe; Charlie Christian; George Benson; Wes Montgomery; Martin Taylor; Tchavolo Schmitt; Stochelo Rosenberg; Biréli Lagrène; John Jorgenson; Michael Angelo Batio; Richard Thompson; Robert Fripp; and Jeff Martin. Willie Nelson wore a Django Reinhardt T-shirt on tour in Europe in 2002, stating in an interview that he admired Django's music and ability. The British guitarist Diz Disley plays in a style based on Reinhardt's technique and he collaborated on numerous projects with Stéphane Grappelli.

Django Reinhardt also had an influence on other styles and musical genres, including Western Swing, notably in the work of Bob Wills.

Musicians have paid tribute to Reinhardt in many other ways, such as by invoking his name in their own work or personal life. Jimi Hendrix is said to have named one of his bands the Band of Gypsys because of Django's music. A number of musicians named their sons Django in reference to Reinhardt, including David Crosby, former Slade singer Noddy Holder, Jerry Jeff Walker, Richard Durrant, and also actors Nana Visitor and Raphael Sbarge. Jazz musician Django Bates and singer-songwriter Django Haskins were named after him.

Songs written in Reinhardt's honor include "Django," composed by John Lewis, which has become a jazz standard performed by musicians such as Miles Davis. The Modern Jazz Quartet titled one of their albums Django in honor of him. The Allman Brothers Band song Jessica was written by Dickey Betts in tribute to Reinhardt — he wanted to write a song that could be played using only two fingers. This aspect of the artist's work also motivated Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, who was inspired by Reinhardt to keep playing guitar after a factory accident that cost him two fingertips. Composer Jon Larsen has composed several crossover concerts featuring Django inspired music together with symphonic arrangements, most famous is "White Night Stories" (2002) and "Vertavo" (1996).

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.

[edit] Reinhardt in popular culture

  • The 2007 video game BioShock uses a selection of his songs in the soundtrack.
  • Reinhardt is the idol of the fictional 1930s guitarist Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn) in the Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown(1999). In the film, it is related how Ray passed out upon meeting Django.
  • Reinhardt is portrayed in the opening sequence of the 2003 animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville. The third and fourth fingers of the cartoon Reinhardt are considerably smaller than the fingers used to play the guitar.
  • He is portrayed by guitarist John Jorgenson in the movie Head in the Clouds.
  • The song Johnny Depp plays in the river party scene in Lasse Hallström's Chocolat was Django and Grappelli's hit, "Minor Swing".
  • Reinhardt's music has been used in the soundtrack of many films, including the oracle scene in The Matrix; Rhythm Futur (95 minute mark) and I Can't Give You Anything But Love (41 minute mark) in The Aviator; Nuages in Gattaca; the score for Louis Malle's 1974 movie, Lacombe Lucien;the background for the Steve Martin movie L.A. Story; the background for a number of Woody Allen movies, including Stardust Memories, where Woody's character plays a Django record; Honeysuckle Rose in the background of the Central Park carriage ride scene in Kate and Leopold; during the Juilliard audition in the movie Daltry Calhoun; Minor Swing and Blues Clair in Metroland for which Mark Knopfler wrote the score; his rendition of Brazil can be heard on the "Something's Gotta Give" soundtrack; and Minor Swing in the scene in the painter's house in the Italian film "I Cento Passi". Reinhardt's work also figures heavily into B. Monkey and The Pallbearer.
  • Reinhardt is the idol of the character Arvid in the movie Swing Kids. The character's left hand is smashed by a member of the Hitler Jugend (HJ), but is inspired to continue by Reinhardt's example.
  • An extended discussion of Reinhardt takes place among several characters in the novel From Here to Eternity by James Jones.
  • The character Andre Custine has a double bass that had been played by Reinhardt in the novel Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds.
  • The 2002 video game Mafia used many of his songs on the soundtrack.
  • Sealab 2021 paid tribute to Django in the episode "All That Jazz". In it, Captain Murphy comments on a drink dispensed from the Bebop Cola machine: "Ahh, Mango Reinhardt! The thinking man's pop!"
  • Harlan Ellison's short story "Django" is a fantasia about a guitarist, with similarities to Reinhardt.
  • The Django web framework, a Python web framework, was named after Reinhardt.
  • Author William Kotzwinkle's 1989 collection, The Hot Jazz Trio stars Reinhardt in a surrealistic fantasy also featuring Pablo Picasso.
  • In the classic Italian western Django, the titular hero is presumably named after Reinhardt. In the climax of the movie, his hands are smashed by his enemies and he is forced to fire a gun with his wounded hands,
  • The song Django from the 1973 Lindsey Buckingham / Stevie Nicks self-titled debut album is a version of the John Lewis standard.
  • The song "Muskrat Love" by America (band) makes a comment about Django, though spelled "Jango" in the lyrics.
  • The lyrics of the Norwegian song Tanta til Beate by Lillebjørn Nilsen mentions Django several times.
  • Brian Dennehy plays a rat named Django in the film Ratatouille, which may be a reference to the musician.
  • The song "Feel So Numb" by Rob Zombie on the album "The Sinister Urge" refers to Django.
  • Reinhardt is mentioned in the short play Sure Thing

[edit] Trivia

  • One of Django's Selmer acoustic guitars was given to Les Paul. Les Paul keeps the guitar in his garage and it is his most prized possession. The guitar can be glimpsed in the DVD documentary, Les Paul: Chasing Sound.
  • An updated version of Reinhardt's song 'Minor Swing' was recently used in British supermarket chain The Co-operative Group's television advertising campaign, to promote their range of wines

[edit] Discography

  • At least eight compilations have also been released.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt"
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