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57-407: Although not a gypsy by birth, Romane benefited from interactions with gypsy guitar players from an early age and especially learned from the recordings of Django Reinhardt , to whom he has remained a faithful heir through the course of his career. However, this respect does not hinder him in any way and does not prevent him from composing original pieces in the gypsy jazz genre. His discography shows

114-415: A banjo, without learning the different tuning and fingering techniques required for the standard five-string banjo . The banjo guitar differs from the standard five-string banjo in the number of strings, playing and tuning methods, and a slightly different timbre . The first versions of six-string banjos were introduced in the late 19th century though did not gain popularity. The concept was reintroduced in

171-619: A brown Gypsy ID triangle sewn at chest level on their clothing, similar to the pink triangle that homosexuals wore, and much like the yellow Star of David that Jews had to subsequently wear. During the war, Romani were systematically killed in concentration camps . In France, they were used as slave labour on farms and in factories. During the Holocaust an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Romani throughout Europe were killed. Hitler and Joseph Goebbels viewed jazz as un-German counterculture . Nonetheless, Goebbels stopped short of

228-536: A chance to start with the band, Reinhardt nearly died. On the night of 2 November 1928, Reinhardt was going to bed in the wagon that he and his wife shared in the caravan. He knocked over a candle, which ignited the extremely flammable celluloid that his wife used to make artificial flowers. The wagon was quickly engulfed in flames. The couple escaped, but Reinhardt suffered extensive burns over half his body. During his 18-month hospitalization, doctors recommended amputation of his badly damaged right leg. Reinhardt refused

285-505: A complete array of natural and artificial harmonics, highly charged dissonances, super-fast chromatic runs from the open bass strings to the highest notes on the 1st string, an unbelievably flexible and driving right-hand, two and three octave arpeggios, advanced and unconventional chords and a use of the flattened fifth that predated be-bop by a decade. Add to all this Django's staggering harmonic and melodic concept, huge sound, pulsating swing, sense of humour and sheer speed of execution, and it

342-571: A complete ban on jazz, which now had many fans in Germany and elsewhere. Official policy towards jazz was much less strict in occupied France, according to author Andy Fry, with jazz music frequently played on both Radio France , the official station of Vichy France, and Radio Paris , which was controlled by the Germans. A new generation of French jazz enthusiasts, the Zazous , had arisen and swollen

399-619: A desire not to remain rigidly fixed in the style but also to move forward, whether by the choice of musicians, accompanying instruments or the choice of whether or not to amplify his guitar. He has performed in a range of settings, from duo to sextet: for example, the group Django Vision or the Romane Acoustic Quartet. His partners on recordings range from Florin Niculescu to Didier Lockwood , Tchavolo Schmitt , Angelo Debarre and Stochelo Rosenberg . Romane also works in

456-558: A fascinating area of Reinhardt's work to study, and have begun to be revived by players such as the Rosenberg Trio (with their 2010 release "Djangologists") and Biréli Lagrène . Wayne Jefferies, in his article "Django's Forgotten Era", writes: Early in 1951, armed with his amplified Maccaferri – which he used to the very end – he put together a new band of the best young modern musicians in Paris; including Hubert Fol, an altoist in

513-602: A freshness and spontaneity that are at once fascinating and alluring ... [Nevertheless] The characteristics of Reinhardt's music are primarily emotional. His relative association of experience, reinforced by a profound rational knowledge of his instrument; the guitar's possibilities and limitations; his love for music and the expression of it—all are a necessary adjunct to the means of expressing these emotions. Django-style enthusiast John Jorgenson has been quoted as saying: Django's guitar playing always has so much personality in it, and seems to contain such joy and feeling that it

570-575: A jam session and radio performance with Louis Armstrong . Later in his career, Reinhardt played with Dizzy Gillespie in France. Also in the neighborhood was the artistic salon R-26 , at which Reinhardt and Grappelli performed regularly as they developed their unique musical style. In 1938, Reinhardt's quintet played to thousands at an all-star show held in London's Kilburn State auditorium. While playing, he noticed American film actor Eddie Cantor in

627-632: A reputation among his band, fans, and managers as extremely unreliable. He skipped sold-out concerts to "walk to the beach" or "smell the dew." During this period he continued to attend the R-26 artistic salon in Montmartre, improvising with his devoted collaborator, Stéphane Grappelli. In Rome in 1949, Reinhardt recruited three Italian jazz players (on bass, piano, and snare drum) and recorded over 60 tunes in an Italian studio. He united with Grappelli, and used his acoustic Selmer-Maccaferri. The recording

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684-434: A revelation. Django is on top form; full of new ideas that are executed with amazing fluidity, cutting angular lines that always retain that ferocious swing. Guitjo (six-string) Banjo guitar , also known as banjitar or ganjo , is a six-string banjo tuned in the standard tuning of a six-string guitar (E2-A2-D3-G3-B3-E4 from lowest to highest strings). The instrument is intended to allow guitar players to emulate

741-401: A very different supporting group context from his "classic", pre-war Quintette sound). These "electric period" Reinhardt recordings have in general received less popular re-release and critical analysis than his pre-war releases (the latter also extending to the period from 1940 to 1945 when Grappelli was absent, which included some of his most famous compositions such as " Nuages "), but are also

798-467: Is also a guitarist. Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( French: [dʒãŋɡo ʁɛjnaʁt] or [dʒɑ̃ɡo ʁenɑʁt] ), was a Belgian-French Manouche or Sinti jazz guitarist and composer. Since he was born on Belgian soil, in Liberchies , he is also often named a Belgian musician. He was one of

855-430: Is infectious. He also pushes himself to the edge nearly all the time, and rides a wave of inspiration that sometimes gets dangerous. Even the few times he does not quite make his ideas flow out flawlessly it is still so exciting that mistakes don't matter! Django's seemingly never-ending bag of licks, tricks and colors always keep the song interesting, and his intensity level is rarely met by any guitarist. Django's technique

912-605: Is like chasing genius to get close to his level of playing. In his later style ( c.  1946 onwards) Reinhardt began to incorporate more bebop influences in his compositions and improvisations, also fitting a Stimer electric pickup to his acoustic guitar. With the addition of amplification, his playing became more linear and "horn like", with the greater facility of the amplified instrument for longer sustain and to be heard in quiet passages, and in general less reliance on his gypsy "bag of tricks" as developed for his acoustic guitar style (also, in some of his late recordings, with

969-461: Is little wonder that guitar players were knocked sideways upon their first encounter with this full-blown genius. Because of his damaged left hand (his ring and pinky fingers helped little in his playing) Reinhardt had to modify both his chordal and melodic approach extensively. For chords he developed a novel system based largely around 3-note chords, each of which could serve as the equivalent of several conventional chords in different inversions; for

1026-570: Is stupefying, it is no less so than his creative invention. In his solos [...] his melodic ideas are sparkling and ravishing, and their abundance scarcely gives the listener time to catch his breath. Django's ability to bend his guitar to the most fantastic audacities, combined with his expressive inflections and vibrato, is no less wonderful; one feels an extraordinary flame burning through every note. Writing in 1945, Billy Neil and E. Gates stated that Reinhardt set new standards by an almost incredible and hitherto unthought-of technique ... His ideas have

1083-695: The Charlie Parker mould. Although Django was twenty years older than the rest of the band, he was completely in command of the modern style. Whilst his solos became less chordal and his lines more Christian -like, he retained his originality. I believe he should be rated much more highly as a be-bop guitarist. His infallible technique, his daring, 'on the edge' improvisations coupled with his vastly advanced harmonic sense, took him to musical heights that Christian and many other Bop musicians never came near. The live cuts from Club St. Germain in February 1951 are

1140-694: The UK. In the autumn of 1946, he made his first tour in the United States, debuting at Cleveland Music Hall as a special guest soloist with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. He played with many musicians and composers, such as Maury Deutsch . At the end of the tour, Reinhardt played two nights at Carnegie Hall in New York City; he received a great ovation and took six curtain calls on the first night. Despite his pride in touring with Ellington (one of two letters to Grappelli relates his excitement), he

1197-444: The United States with Duke Ellington 's orchestra in 1946. He died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in 1953 at the age of 43. Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz , including " Minor Swing ", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and " Nuages ". The jazz guitarist Frank Vignola said that nearly every major popular music guitarist in the world has been influenced by Reinhardt. Over

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1254-620: The United States, could scarcely believe what they heard on the records that the Quintette was making; guitarist, gypsy jazz enthusiast and educator Ian Cruickshank writes: It wasn't until 1938, and the Quintet's first tour of England, that guitarists [in the U.K.] were able to witness Django's amazing abilities. His hugely innovative technique included, on a grand scale, such unheard of devices as melodies played in octaves, tremolo chords with shifting notes that sounded like whole horn sections,

1311-478: The delicacy of his style. He had been promised jobs in California, but they failed to develop. Tired of waiting, Reinhardt returned to France in February 1947. After his return, Reinhardt appeared to find it difficult to adjust. He sometimes showed up for scheduled concerts without a guitar or amplifier, or wandered off to the park or beach. On a few occasions he refused to get out of bed. Reinhardt developed

1368-492: The duration of the war. Reinhardt re-formed the quintet, with Hubert Rostaing on clarinet replacing Grappelli. While he tried to continue with his music, war with the Nazis presented Reinhardt with a potentially catastrophic obstacle, as he was a Romani jazz musician. Beginning in 1933, all German Romani were barred from living in cities, herded into settlement camps, and routinely sterilized . Romani men were required to wear

1425-621: The educational field, having published several methods of guitar, opened a school of gypsy swing music (the Swing Romane Academy), launched a magazine ( French Guitare ) and was the first director of the Village Musiques Actuelles ATLA founded by Noëlle Tatich in 1994. His son, Richard Manetti, also pursues a career as a jazz guitarist and gypsy swing performer. They regularly perform together on national and international stages. His younger son, Pierre,

1482-474: The fingerboard, as opposed to the more conventional "box" approach of moving across strings within a single fretboard position (location). He also produced some of his characteristic "effects" by moving a fixed shape (such as a diminished chord) rapidly up and down the fretboard, resulting in what one writer has called "intervallic cycling of melodic motifs and chords". For an unsurpassed insight into these techniques in use, interested persons should not miss viewing

1539-456: The fingerings of musicians he watched, who would have included local virtuoso players of the day such as Jean "Poulette" Castro and Auguste "Gusti" Malha, as well as from his uncle Guiligou, who played violin, banjo and guitar. Reinhardt was able to make a living playing music by the time he was 15, busking in cafés, often with his brother Joseph. At this time, he had not started playing jazz, although he had probably heard and had been intrigued by

1596-582: The first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most significant exponents. 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. Reinhardt recorded in France with many visiting American musicians, including Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter , and briefly toured

1653-786: The first recording by the Quintette. In both years the great majority of their recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, and other instruments, but the all-string instrumentation is the one most often adopted by emulators of the Hot Club sound. Decca Records in the United States released three records of Quintette tunes with Reinhardt on guitar, and one other, credited to "Stephane Grappelli & His Hot 4 with Django Reinhardt", in 1935. Reinhardt also played and recorded with many American jazz musicians, such as Adelaide Hall , Coleman Hawkins , Benny Carter , and Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris). He participated in

1710-445: The first time. On these recordings, made in 1928, Reinhardt plays the "banjo" (actually 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. Before he had

1767-546: The front row. When their set ended, Cantor rose to his feet, then went up on stage and kissed Reinhardt's hand, paying no concern to the audience. A few weeks later the quintet played at the London Palladium . When World War II broke out, the original quintet was on tour in the United Kingdom. Reinhardt returned to Paris at once, leaving his wife in the UK. Grappelli remained in the United Kingdom for

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1824-783: The last few decades, annual Django festivals have been held throughout Europe and the U.S., and a biography has been written about his life. In February 2017, the Berlin International Film Festival held the world premiere of the French biographical film Django , based on Reinhardt's life. Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in Liberchies , Pont-à-Celles , Belgium, into a French family of Manouche Romani descent. His French, Alsatian father, Jean Eugene Weiss, domiciled in Paris with his wife, went by Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt, his wife's surname, to avoid French military conscription. His mother, Laurence Reinhardt,

1881-412: The last few months of his life, he had begun moving in a new musical direction, in which he assimilated the vocabulary of bebop and fused it with his own melodic style. On 16 May 1953, while walking home from Fontainebleau–Avon station after playing in a Paris club, he collapsed outside his house from a brain hemorrhage . It was a Saturday, and it took a full day for a doctor to arrive. Reinhardt

1938-664: The more famous sound of Reinhardt and Grappelli's later ensemble.) Hearing their music triggered in Reinhardt a vision and goal of becoming a jazz professional. While developing his interest in jazz, Reinhardt met Stéphane Grappelli , a young violinist with similar musical interests. In 1928, Grappelli had been a member of the orchestra at the Ambassador Hotel while bandleader Paul Whiteman and Joe Venuti were performing there. In early 1934 both Reinhardt and Grappelli were members of Louis Vola 's band. From 1934 until

1995-466: The night by Swiss border guards, who forced him to return to Paris again. One of his tunes, 1940's "Nuages", became an unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation. During a concert at the Salle Pleyel , the popularity of the tune was such that the crowd made him replay it three times in a row. The single sold over 100,000 copies. After the war, Reinhardt rejoined Grappelli in

2052-535: The only known synchronised (sound and vision) footage of Reinhardt in performance, playing on an instrumental version of the song "J'Attendrai" for the short jazz film Le Jazz Hot in 1938–39 (copies available on YouTube and elsewhere). Hugues Panassié , in his 1942 book The Real Jazz , wrote: First of all, his instrumental technique is vastly superior to that of all other jazz guitarists. This technique permits him to play with an inconceivable velocity and makes his instrument completely versatile. Though his virtuosity

2109-902: The outbreak of World War II in 1939, Reinhardt and Grappelli worked together as the principal soloists of their newly formed quintet, the Quintette du Hot Club de France , in Paris. It became the most accomplished and innovative European jazz group of the period. Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput also played on guitar, and Louis Vola was on bass. The Quintette was one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of stringed instruments. In Paris on 14 March 1933, Reinhardt recorded two takes each of "Parce que je vous aime" and "Si, j'aime Suzy", vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and guitar support. He used three guitarists along with an accordion lead, violin, and bass. In August 1934, he made other recordings with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Reinhardt), including

2166-403: The outside world via the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Despite his left hand handicap, Reinhardt was able to recapture (in modified form) and then surpass his previous level of proficiency on the guitar (by now his main instrument), not only as a lead instrumental voice but also as a driving and harmonically interesting rhythm player; his virtuosity, incorporating many gypsy-derived influences,

2223-539: The ranks of the Hot Club. In addition to the increased interest, many American musicians based in Paris during the thirties had returned to the US at the beginning of the war, leaving more work for French musicians. Reinhardt was the most famous jazz musician in Europe at the time, working steadily during the early war years and earning a great deal of money, yet always under threat. Reinhardt expanded his musical horizons during this period. Using an early amplification system, he

2280-438: The son himself became an accomplished musician who went on to record with his biological father. After parting from his wife and son, Reinhardt traveled throughout France, getting occasional jobs playing music at small clubs. He had no specific goals, living a hand-to-mouth existence, spending his earnings as quickly as he made them. Accompanying him on his travels was his new girlfriend, Sophie Ziegler. Nicknamed "Naguine," she

2337-400: The surgery and was eventually able to walk with the aid of a cane. More crucial to his music, the fourth and fifth fingers (ring and little fingers) of Reinhardt's left hand were badly burned. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again. During many months of recuperation, Reinhardt retaught himself to play using primarily the index and middle fingers of his left hand, using

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2394-455: The treble notes he could employ his ring and little fingers to fret the relevant high strings even though he could not articulate these fingers independently, while in some chords he also employed his left hand thumb on the lowest string. Within his rapid melodic runs he frequently incorporated arpeggios, which could be played using two notes per string (played with his two "good" fingers, being his index and middle fingers) while shifting up or down

2451-440: The two injured fingers only for chord work. He made use of a new six-string steel-strung acoustic guitar that was bought for him by his brother, Joseph Reinhardt , who was also an accomplished guitarist. Within a year of the fire, in 1929, Bella Mayer gave birth to their son, Henri "Lousson" Reinhardt . Soon thereafter, the couple split up. The son eventually took the surname of his mother's new husband. As Lousson Baumgartner,

2508-404: The version of jazz played by American expatriate bands like Billy Arnold's . Reinhardt received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life. At the age of 17, Reinhardt married Florine "Bella" Mayer, a girl from the same Romani settlement, according to Romani custom (although not an official marriage under French law). The following year he recorded for

2565-413: The violin, banjo and guitar. He became adept at stealing chickens. His father reportedly played music in a family band comprising himself and seven brothers; a surviving photograph shows this band including his father on piano. Reinhardt was attracted to music at an early age, first playing the violin. At the age of 12, he received a banjo-guitar as a gift. He quickly taught himself to play, mimicking

2622-460: The woes of the war that weighed on people's souls—and then transcended it all. Biographer Michael Dregni In 1943, Reinhardt married his long-term partner Sophie "Naguine" Ziegler in Salbris . They had a son, Babik Reinhardt , who became a respected guitarist. At that time the tide of war turned against the Germans, with a considerable darkening of the situation in Paris. Severe rationing

2679-505: Was a dancer. The birth certificate refers to "Jean Reinhart, son of Jean Baptiste Reinhart, artist, and Laurence Reinhart, housewife, domiciled in Paris". A number of authors have repeated the suggestion that Reinhardt's nickname, Django, is Romani for "I awake"; it may also simply have been a diminutive, or local Walloon version, of "Jean". Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he started playing

2736-512: Was a distant cousin. In the years after the fire, Reinhardt was rehabilitating and experimenting on the guitar that his brother had given him. After having played a broad spectrum of music, he was introduced to American jazz by an acquaintance, Émile Savitry , whose record collection included such musical luminaries as Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington , Joe Venuti , Eddie Lang , and Lonnie Johnson . (The swinging sound of Venuti's jazz violin and Eddie Lang's virtuoso guitar-playing anticipated

2793-536: Was able to work in more of a big-band format, in large ensembles with horn sections. He also experimented with classical composition, writing a Mass for the Gypsies and a symphony. Since he did not read music, Reinhardt worked with an assistant to notate what he was improvising. His modernist piece "Rythme Futur" was also intended to be acceptable to the Nazis. In this ["Nuages"] graceful and eloquent melody, Django evoked

2850-568: Was also matched with a superb sense of melodic invention as well as general musicality in terms of choice of notes, timing, dynamics, and utilizing the maximum tonal range from an instrument previously thought of by many critics as potentially 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. Guitarists, particularly in Britain and

2907-514: Was declared dead on arrival at the hospital in Fontainebleau, at the age of 43. Reinhardt developed his initial musical approach via tutoring by relatives and exposure to other gypsy guitar players of the day, then playing the banjo-guitar alongside accordionists in the world of the Paris bal musette . He played mainly with a plectrum for maximum volume and attack (particularly in the 1920s and early 1930s when amplification in venues

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2964-409: Was in place, and members of Reinhardt's circle were being captured by the Nazis or joining the resistance. Reinhardt's first attempt at escape from Occupied France led to capture. Fortunately for him, a jazz-loving German, Luftwaffe officer Dietrich Schulz-Köhn  [ de ] , allowed him to return to Paris. Reinhardt made a second attempt a few days later, but was stopped in the middle of

3021-492: Was issued for the first time in the late 1950s. Back in Paris, in June 1950, Reinhardt was invited to join an entourage to welcome the return of Benny Goodman . He also attended a reception for Goodman, who, after the war ended, had asked Reinhardt to join him in the US. Goodman repeated his invitation and, out of politeness, Reinhardt accepted. Reinhardt later had second thoughts about what role he could play alongside Goodman, who

3078-496: Was minimal or non-existent), although he could also play fingerstyle on occasion, as evidenced by some recorded introductions and solos. Following his accident in 1928 in which his left hand was severely burned, he was left with the use of only his first two fingers. As a result, he developed a completely new left hand technique and started performing on guitar accompanying popular singers of the day, before discovering jazz and presenting his new hybrid style of gypsy approach plus jazz to

3135-449: Was not fully integrated into the band. He played a few tunes at the end of the show, backed by Ellington, with no special arrangements written for him. After the tour, Reinhardt secured an engagement at Café Society Uptown, where he played four solos a day, backed by the resident band. These performances drew large audiences. Having failed to bring his usual Selmer Modèle Jazz, he played on a borrowed electric guitar, which he felt hampered

3192-405: Was not only phenomenal, but it was personal and unique to him due to his handicap. It is very difficult to achieve the same tone, articulation and clarity using all 5 left hand fingers. It is possible to get closer with only 2 fingers, but again is quite challenging. Probably the thing about this music that makes it always challenging and exciting to play is that Django raised the bar so high, that it

3249-403: Was the "King of Swing", and remained in France. In 1951, Reinhardt retired to Samois-sur-Seine , near Fontainebleau , where he lived until his death. He continued to play in Paris jazz clubs and began playing electric guitar. (He often used a Selmer fitted with an electric pickup, despite his initial hesitation about the instrument.) In his final recordings, made with his Nouvelle Quintette in

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