Django Reinhardt
Among Roma (Gypsy) musicians who have broken into the mainstream, the two biggest names are the Gipsy Kings and, long predating that band, Django Reinhardt (1910–'53). The latter's synthesis of his tribal traditions with French pop and American swing, known variously as Gypsy jazz, Gypsy swing and jazz manouche (which means literally "traveler jazz") has already survived three generations. With its chugging rhythms, sweeping melodies and inventive improvised stretches, Reinhardt's music is still popular in every corner of the globe.
Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt was born in at Liberchies, Belgium, into the classic nomadic Gypsy lifestyle but he grew up in and around Paris. The boy absorbed his people's superstitions, taboos and oral traditions plus their ancient, well-founded distrust of outsiders, but he was also attracted to the great urban center that lay just beyond his family's caravan. His music studies began early, and by 13 he had mastered the guitar, violin and banjo and was already a professional musician. Then, in 1928, disaster struck. Reinhardt, who was not yet 20, had just returned home after a performance when some artificial flowers made by his wife caught fire. The young couple survived the inferno but two fingers on Reinhardt's left hand and most of the right lower side of his body were severely burned. After a year and half of rehabilitation, during which time he miraculously succeeded in creating a new two-finger-plus-thumb chording system, he was back at his regular haunts and, by all accounts, his playing was even cleaner and more inventive than before.
Jazz manouche began as the brainchild of a group of Gypsy guitarists, including the Ferré brothers, who were fixtures on the Paris music scene during the '20s and '30s. Reinhardt had scored a regular gig at the Hotel Claridge and it was there that he met and began jamming with Paris-born violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908–'97). The pair of them, backed by two acoustic rhythm guitars played by Django's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput plus the double bass of Louis Vola, founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1933. It was probably the first-ever jazz string band, built upon a distinctive rhythm called la pompe, which in conjunction with strongly syncopated bass lines made a percussion section or trap set redundant. Extended improvised solos were performed on guitar and/or violin, and Reinhardt's dusky, chromatic sound with its melancholy undertones, gave even throwaway numbers songs grace and heft. His runs were so startlingly fleet and endlessly original that they seemed to be plucked out of thin air.
The Quintette became a sensation, and no society bash or jazz gig was complete until it showed up. The musicians sat in with established luminaries of French jazz and performed with just about every American jazz star who passed through the City of Light, including Rex Stewart, Louis Armstrong, Barney Bigard, Bill Coleman, Eddie South, Joe Turner, Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins. Not that the Quintette was always an easy blend to maintain: The affable Grappelli was sometimes stymied by Reinhardt's fits of temperament and tendency to dominate the group's mix, but he was generally able to sublimate his frustration for the good of all, with magical results. The group disbanded while it was on tour in London in 1939. England declared war on Germany and Grappelli decided to remain in the U.K. while Reinhardt returned to Paris.
Reinhardt kept himself going during the war years by playing with a version of the Quintette, with Hubert Rostaing's clarinet filling in for Grappelli's violin. The guitarist stayed under the radar, avoiding the horrible fate endured by so many of his friends and family who ended their lives in Nazi concentration camps. After the war Grappelli and Reinhardt rejoined forces and there was a brief attempt to reestablish the original Quintette but the bloom was gone and that incarnation did not last very long. Reinhardt toured the U.S.A. with Duke Ellington and kept performing until 1951, when the guitarist went into retirement. On May 16th, 1953, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Reinhardt's modern legacy, aside from his huge recorded catalogue, can be witnessed in the legions of avid fans and tribute bands of all nationalities who are still obsessed by his works. Contemporary devotees include John Jorgenson, Raul Reynoso, Paul Mehling and Frank Vignola in the U.S.A.; Martin Taylor, a former Grappelli sideman, plus Gary Potter, Ian Cruickshank and Andy Mackenzie in the U.K.; and Jon Larsen's Hot Club of Norway and Amsterdam-based Robin Nolan Trio. But the most authentic exponents are located closer to the maestro's old stomping grounds. Prominent latter-day figures include Bireli Lagrene, Romane, Angelo Debarre, Raphael Fays plus Stochelo Rosenberg and Boulou and Elio Ferre, plus actual Reinhardt descendants, among them, his son Babik. Tunes associated with Reinhardt include "Nuages," "Belleville," "Djangology" and "Nocturne." —Christina Roden