Search - Django Reinhardt :: Hot Club of France Quintet

Django at his best

02/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Django Reinhardt is simply the best jazz guitarist ever. There. That's out of the way.Now then, this album is comprised of recordings made in Brussels and Pars (hence the title) in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Having taken in a Les Paul performance while touring the U.S.A. with Duke Ellington, Django switched from acoustic to electric guitar. He also began to move away from swing music and in a bit more of a bop direction. These recordings (and those on "Peche a la Mouche", which would make a good companion album to this one) are the best of his career, and hint what he might have done had he not died tragically young in 1953. Highly recommended!"

Django shines in any style.

02/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For longtime Django fans such as myself, who've been mainly familiar with his remarkable acoustic guitar playing with the famous Hot Club of France (which also featured virtuoso violinist Stephane Grappelli), it's quite amazing to hear him also shining in a completely different context and style. In these recordings made in Brussels (1947) and Paris (1951-53) toward the end of his life, Django showed that he was equally at home on the electric guitar, playing bebop and other more avante-garde styles. If you're not already familiar with this incomparable guitarist, I'd recommend starting with JSP's great 5-CD set called "The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order," which contains most of his remarkable pre-war recordings with the Hot Club of France, and which are a little more representative of his style. If you're already a Django fan, though, and especially if you appreciate the electric guitar playing of other jazz greats such as Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, you're sure to love this CD too. Actually it's hard to go wrong with anything by Django Reinhardt. As Duke Ellington said, "Django is all artist. He's one of those musicians who is unable to play a note that's not pretty or in good taste.""