Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential
jazz figure to emerge from Europe -- and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from
Joe Zawinul,
George Shearing,
John McLaughlin, his old cohort
Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy,
Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet
Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a
jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with
Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil. His harmonic concepts were startling for their time -- making a direct impression upon
Charlie Christian and
Les Paul, among others -- and he was an energizing rhythm guitarist behind
Grappelli, pushing their groups into a higher gear. Not only did
Reinhardt put his stamp upon
jazz, his string band music also had an impact upon the parallel development of
western swing, which eventually fed into the wellspring of what is now called
country music. Although he could not read music, with
Grappelli and on his own,
Reinhardt composed several winsome, highly original tunes like "Daphne," "Nuages" and "Manoir de Mes Reves," as well as mad swingers like "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the '30s, "Stomping at Decca." As the late
Ralph Gleason said about
Django's recordings, "They were European and they were French and they were still
jazz."
A violinist first and a guitarist later, Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful
Reinhardt figured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style. According to one story, during his recovery period,
Reinhardt was introduced to American
jazz when he found a 78 RPM disc of
Louis Armstrong's "Dallas Blues" at an Orleans flea market. He then resumed his career playing in Parisian cafes until one day in 1934 when
Hot Club chief Pierre Nourry proposed the idea of an all-string band to
Reinhardt and
Grappelli. Thus was born
the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which quickly became an international draw thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca and HMV recordings.
The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up
the Quintette, with
Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and
Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years, he led a big band, another quintet with clarinetist
Hubert Rostaing in place of
Grappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazzmen as
Mel Powell,
Peanuts Hucko and
Ray McKinley. In 1946,
Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with the
Duke Ellington band but his appearances were poorly received. Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in Jan. 1946,
Reinhardt and
Grappelli held several sporadic reunions where the bop influences are more subtly integrated into the old, still-fizzing swing format. In the 1950s,
Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording now and then until his death from a stroke in 1953. His
Hot Club recordings from the `30s are his most irresistible legacy; their spirit and sound can be felt in current groups like Holland's
Rosenberg Trio. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
Le Jazz Manouche