The Best of Django Reinhardt

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.com
Django Reinhardt was both the first great jazz-guitar soloist and the first European jazz musician to have a significant influence on American musicians. Just as Earl Hines had found a way to transfer Louis Armstrong's assertive solo style to the piano, Reinhardt did it with the acoustic guitar, mixing inventive melodic improvisation with a decorative gypsy-guitar idiom and vigorous rhythm. He did it most often with the Hot Club of France, a quintet including violinist Stephane Grappelli, two rhythm guitarists, and a bassist that created its own distinctive style, a lightly propulsive mix that was an ideal setting for Django's mix of drive, invention, and charm. The recordings here range from 1936 to 1948 and showcase Reinhardt with the Hot Club, clarinetist Hubert Rostaing, and trumpeter Rex Stewart. Included is a brilliant solo performance of his "Naguine." It's an excellent introduction to one of the most original voices in jazz of the period, to a fine composer as well as a unique guitarist. --Stuart Broomer

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Customer reviews

review by: Ghog date: 2008-12-03 rating:
A great CD
I only recently discovered Django Reihardt his personal story and his music are hugely inspiring. His ability to overcome adversity in his youth and then create such an unusual style that is uniquely his own and later be embraced by so many shows not only great character but great talent as well. This CD has so many great tunes it's a real joy to listen to at any time of day. Good stuff highly recommended

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review by: date: 2008-10-31 rating:
Oh Baby, What Have I Been Missing
I've know about Django Reinhardt for years but I only really "heard" his music in the movie Chocolat. This is a great introduction to Mr Reinhardt and the unique approach he brought to jazz. This collection is a good way to spend your money.

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review by: date: 2008-06-18 rating:
now you know why he's the king
buy this and you will understand the talent and popularity of django. a beautiful piece of music that everyone can enjoy.

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review by: date: 2008-05-25 rating:
The Electric Django
These selections were originally released on LP (with the same bright yellow album cover) in the 1960's. What made the album special then continues to make it special now - with the exception of of three cuts, all feature Django on electric guitar (a hollow-bodied acoustic with an electric pick-up). The cuts are all from the late-40's and early-50's after the break-up of the original and justly celebrated "Quintet of the Hot Club of France" featuring Django, with the great Stephane Grapelly on violin.

When most people think of Django Reinhardt at his best, they think of the period between 1935 until the outbreak of war in 1939 permanently broke up the original Quintet. Stephane Grappelli, who was gay, understandably fled soon-to-be occupied France to England to wait out the war, while Reinhardt chose to stay with his gypsy compatriots in the wagon camps on the outskirts of Paris. During the war Django, despite the round-up of gypsies throughout occupied France, continued to enjoy the adulation of the many Parisian jazz fans (along with more than a few Nazi soldiers) who flocked to hear him in dark cramped "bal musette" nightclubs and large auditoriums alike.

The occupation of France by the Nazis paradoxically opened up new avenues of artistic expression for the musician whose fellow "Romanies" were being rounded up and sent to concentration camps in Poland and Germany. Without the confining structure of the Quintet, and the familiar interplay between Django and Stephane, Reinhardt was free to explore other styles and instruments. It was during this time that he took a serious interest in what was then an exotic instrument - the "electric" guitar.

Although hollow-bodied acoustic guitars with electric pickups had already been used by musicians such as Freddie Green with the Count Basie Orchestra, these musicians played the instrument much as they would have an acoustic guitar. They simply took advantage of the increased volume of sound to finally make themselves heard over the trumpets and saxophones. Only Charlie Christian had consistently explored the many possibilities that an electrified guitar offered, in the few short years he had played with the Benny Goodman Big Band and Sextet before his death at age 23 in the early 1940s.

"Django Reinhardt" offers an excellent sampling of the new direction of sound and form that Reinhardt developed during and after World War II. The recordings are taken primarily from the late 40s and early 50s. They dispel the notion that without the classic Quintet Django's playing suffered a general decline and lack of focus. Listening to the elegiac improvisations on tunes such as "September Song" and "Crepuscule," with their drawn out notes and tender shifts in tempo and volume, one can hear Reinhardt exploring the possibilities afforded by electrification. Combined with his compelling technique and unending musical curiosity, he brings a fresh and beautiful new sound to jazz.

It is not the music of the old Quintette, with Django's amazing single string arpeggio runs and startlingly assured staccato improvisations. Although he can still play with the same prewar speed, the ability to draw out the notes and play audibly even in the softest of passages produces solos of tremendous beauty and variety.

If you haven't heard Django Reinhardt on electric guitar, you have missed a part what made him so special. Still highly recommended after all these years.


review by: date: 2008-04-25 rating:
Poor sound quality mars a great musician
Django Reinhardt and his style of jazz certainly is good listening, and definitely characteristic of the era around WWII in Europe. But the quality of the sound on this CD is terrible -- surely some of the noise could have been removed without losing the fell of the music.

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