Django Reinhardt

Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium,[7] into a Belgian family[3] of Manouche Romani descent.[7] His father was Jean Eugene Weiss, but domiciled in Paris with his wife, he went by Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt, his wife's surname, to avoid French military conscription.[8] His mother, Laurence Reinhardt, was a dancer.[8] The birth certificate refers to "Jean Reinhart, son of Jean Baptiste Reinhart, artist, and Laurence Reinhart, housewife, domiciled in Paris".[9]

A number of authors have repeated the claim that Reinhardt's nickname, Django, is Romani for "I awake";[2]^:4–5 however, it may also simply have been a diminutive, or local Walloon version, of "Jean".[10] Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he started playing the violin, banjo and guitar. He became adept at stealing chickens, which was viewed as a noble skill by the Romani, because part of their means of survival on the road was to steal from the non-Romani world around them.[2]^:5[11]^:14 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 learned to play, mimicking 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.[2]^:28 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.

He received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life.[11]^:13

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).[12]^:9 The following year he recorded for the first time.[12]^:9 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.[12]^:10 Hylton offered him a job on the spot, and Reinhardt accepted.[12]^:10

Before he had a chance to start with the band, however, 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.[13] During his 18 month hospitalization, doctors recommended amputation for his badly damaged right leg. Reinhardt refused the surgery and was eventually able to walk with the aid of a cane.[12]^:10

More crucial to his music, the third finger (ring finger) and fourth finger (pinky) of Reinhardt’s left hand were badly burned. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again.[11]^:43–44 [12]^:10[14] Reinhardt applied himself intensely to relearning his craft, however, making use of a new guitar bought for him by his brother, Joseph Reinhardt, who was also an accomplished guitarist. While he never regained the use of those two fingers, Reinhardt regained his musical mastery by focusing on his left index and middle fingers, using the two injured fingers only for chord work.[11]^:31–35

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, the son himself became an accomplished musician who would go on to record with his biological father. [15]

After parting from his wife and son, Reinhardt traveled throughout France, getting occasional jobs playing music at small clubs. He had no definite goals, living a hand-to-mouth existence, spending his earnings as quickly as he made them.[12]^:11 Accompanying him on his travels was his new girlfriend, Sophie Ziegler. Nicknamed "Naguine," she and Reinhardt were distant cousins. [12]^:11

During 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, and Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang. Hearing their music triggered in Reinhardt a vision and goal of becoming a jazz professional.[12]^:12

While developing his interest in jazz, Reinhardt met Stéphane Grappelli, a young violinist with similar musical interests. He and Grappelli frequently jammed together, accompanied by a loose circle of other musicians.[11]^:26

Reinhardt acquired his first Selmer guitar in the mid-1930s.

From 1934 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Reinhardt and Grappelli worked together as the principal soloists of their newly formed Hot Club, in Paris. It became the most accomplished and innovative European jazz group of the period.[16]

Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput also played on guitar, and Louis Vola was on bass.[17]^:45–49 The Quintette was one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of stringed instruments.[11]^:64–66

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 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,[18] 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 songs with Reinhardt on guitar, and one other, credited to "Stephane Grappelli & His Hot 4 with Django Reinhardt", in 1935.[19]

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 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.[20]

In 1938 Reinhardt's quintet played to thousands at an all-star show held in London's Kilburn State auditorium.[11]^:92 While playing, he noticed American film actor Eddie Cantor in 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.[11]^:93 A few weeks later the quintet played at the London Palladium.[11]^:93

When World War II broke out, the original quintet was on tour in the United Kingdom. Reinhardt returned to Paris at once,[11]^:98–99 leaving his wife in the UK. Grappelli remained in the United Kingdom for the duration of the war. Reinhardt re-formed the quintet, with Hubert Rostaing on clarinet replacing Grappelli.[21]

While he tried to continue with his music, war with the Nazis presented Reinhardt with two potentially catastrophic obstacles. First, he was a Romani. Second, he was a 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 a brown Gypsy ID triangle sewn on their chest,[2]^:168 similar to the pink triangle that homosexuals wore, and much like the yellow Star of David that Jews had to subsequently wear.[22] During the war, Romani were systematically killed in concentration camps.[2]^:169 In France, they were used as slave labour on farms and in factories.[2]^:169 During the Holocaust an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Romani throughout Europe were eventually killed.[2]^:154

Hitler and Joseph Goebbels viewed jazz as un-German counterculture. [2]^:154[23] Nonetheless, Goebbels stopped short of a complete ban on Jazz, which now had many fans in Germany and elsewhere.[2]^:157 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, controlled by the Germans. A new generation of French Jazz fans, the Zazous, had arisen and swollen the ranks of the Hot Club.[2]^:157 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 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 Rhythm Futur was also intended to be acceptable to the Nazis.

In 1943, Reinhardt officially married his long term partner Sophie "Naguine" Ziegler in Salbris. They had a son, Babik Reinhardt, who became a respected guitarist.[21]

1943 also saw the tide of war turning against the Germans, with a considerable darkening of the situation in Paris. Severe rationing was in place, and members of Django'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, allowed him to return to Paris.[24] Reinhardt made a second attempt a few days later, but was stopped in the middle of the night by Swiss border guards, who forced him to return to Paris again.[25]

Unlike the estimated 600,000 Gypsies who were interned and killed in the Porajmos, Reinhardt survived the war without incident.

One of his songs, 1940's "Nuages",[26] became an unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation.[17]^:93 During a concert at the Salle Pleyel, the popularity of the song was such that the crowd made him replay it three times in a row.[17]^:93 The single sold over 100,000 copies.[17]^:93

Reinhardt and Duke Ellington at the Aquarium in New York, c. November 1946

After the war, Reinhardt rejoined Grappelli in the UK. In the autumn of 1946, he made his first tour in the United States, debuting at Cleveland Music Hall[27] as a special guest soloist with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. He played with many notable 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 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.[11]^:138–139 Having failed to bring his usual Selmer Modèle Jazz, he played on a borrowed electric guitar, which he felt hampered the delicacy of his style.[11]^:138 He had been promised jobs in California, but they failed to develop. Tired of waiting, Reinhardt returned to France in February 1947.[11]^:141

After his return, Reinhardt re-immersed himself in Romani life, finding it difficult to adjust to the postwar world. 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 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."[11]^:145 During this period he continued to attend the R-26 artistic salon in Montmartre, improvising with his devoted collaborator, Stéphane Grappelli.[28][29]

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 was issued for the first time in the late 1950s.[30]

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 U.S. Goodman repeated his invitation and, out of politeness, Reinhardt accepted. However, Reinhardt later had second thoughts about what role he could play alongside Goodman, who was the "King of Swing", and remained in France.[2]^:251

Plaque commemorating Reinhardt at Samois-sur-Seine

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 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.[31]

On 16 May 1953, while walking from the Gare de Fontainebleau–Avon Station after playing in a Paris club, he collapsed outside his house from a brain hemorrhage.[11]^:160 It was a Saturday, and it took a full day for a doctor to arrive.[11]^:161 Reinhardt was declared dead on arrival at the hospital in Fontainebleau, at the age of 43.

In February 2017, the Berlin International Film Festival held the world premiere of Django, a French film directed by Etienne Comar. The movie covers Django's escape from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1943 and the fact that even under "constant danger, flight and the atrocities committed against his family", he continued composing and performing.[42] Reinhardt's music was re-recorded for the film by the Dutch jazz band Rosenberg Trio with lead guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg.[43][44]

The documentary film, Djangomania! was released in 2005. The hour-long film was directed and written by Jamie Kastner, who traveled throughout the world to show the influence of Django's music in various countries.[45]

In 1984 the Kool Jazz Festival, held in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, was dedicated entirely to Reinhardt. Performers included Grappelli, Benny Carter, and Mike Peters with his group of seven musicians. The festival was organized by George Wein.[46] Reinhardt is celebrated annually in the village of Liberchies, his birthplace.[47]

Numerous musicians have written and recorded tributes to Reinhardt. The jazz standard "Django" (1954) was composed by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet in honour of Reinhardt.[48]

Ramelton, Co. Donegal, Ireland, each year hosts a festival in tribute to Django called "Django sur Lennon" or "Django on the Lennon" the Lennon being the name of the local river that runs through the village.

Djangofest is an annual music festival in Langley WA.

In coincidence with Django's 110th birth anniversary, a graphic novel depicting his youth years was published under the title "Django Main de Feu", by writer Salva Rubio and artist Efa through Belgian publisher Dupuis. [49]

Reinhardt recorded over 900 sides in his recording career, from 1928 to 1953, the majority as sides of the then-prevalent 78-RPM records, with the remainder as acetates, transcription discs, private and off-air recordings (of radio broadcasts), and part of a film soundtrack. Only one session (eight tracks) from March 1953 was ever recorded specifically for album release by Norman Granz in the then-new LP format, but Reinhardt died before the album could be released. In his earliest recordings Reinhardt played banjo (or, more accurately, banjo-guitar) accompanying accordionists and singers on dances and popular tunes of the day, with no jazz content, whereas in the last recordings before his death he played amplified guitar in the bebop idiom with a pool of younger, more modern French musicians.

A full chronological listing of his lifetime recorded output is available from the source cited here,[61] and an index of individual tunes is available from the source cited here.[62] A few fragments of film performance (without original sound) also survive, as does one complete performance with sound, of the tune "J'Attendrai" performed with the Quintet in 1938 for the short film Le Jazz Hot.[63][64]

Since his death, Reinhardt's music has been released on many compilations. Intégrale Django Reinhardt, volumes 1–20 (40 CDs), released by the French company Frémeaux from 2002 to 2005, tried to include every known track on which he played.[65]

• The Great Artistry of Django Reinhardt (Clef, 1954)
• Parisian Swing (GNP Crescendo, 1965)
• Quintet of the Hot Club of France (GNP Crescendo, 1965)
• At Club St. Germain (Honeysuckle, 1983)
• Swing Guitar (Jass, 1991)
• Djano Reinhardt in Brussels (Verve, 1992)
• Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli (GNP Crescendo, 1990)
• Peche à La Mouche: The Great Blue Star Sessions 1947–1953 (Verve, 1992)
• Django's Music (Hep, 1994)
• Brussels and Paris (DRG, 1996)
• Quintet of the Hot Club of France (Original Jazz Classics, 1997)
• Django with His American Friends (DRG, 1998)
• The Complete Django Reinhardt HMV Sessions (1998)
• The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order (2000)
• Djangology (Bluebird, 2002)
• Intégrale Django Reinhardt (Frémeaux, 2002)
• Jazz in Paris: Nuages (2003)
• Vol. 2: 1938–1939 (Naxos, 2001)
• Swing Guitars Vol. 3 1936–1937 (Naxos, 2003)
• Nuages Vol. 6 1940 (Naxos, 2004)
• Django on the Radio(2008)

A small number of waltzes composed by Reinhardt in his youth were never recorded by the composer, but were retained in the repertoire of his associates and several are still played today. They came to light via recordings by Matelo Ferret in 1960 (the waltzes "Montagne Sainte-Genevieve", "Gagoug", "Chez Jacquet" and "Choti"; Disques Vogue (F)EPL7740) and 1961 ("Djalamichto" and "En Verdine"; Disques Vogue (F)EPL7829). The first four are now available on Matelo's CD Tziganskaïa and Other Rare Recordings, released by Hot Club Records (subsequently reissued as Tziganskaïa: The Django Reinhardt Waltzes); "Chez Jacquet" was also recorded by Baro Ferret in 1966.

In 2019, jazz-guitarist, Stéphane Wrembel who has dedicated his music to the study and extrapolation of Django Reinhardt music, released "Django l'impressionniste", a compilation of 17 never-recorded solo pieces by Django Reinhardt (composed from 1937 to 1950) whose collection took Wrembel several years. Since 2016, Wrembel and his quartet (Thor Jensen (guitar), Ari Folman Cohen (bass), Nick Anderson (drums) sometimes completed by a fifth artist playing either the violin or the clarinet/saxophone) have been regularly releasing CDs composed of covers of pieces by Reinhardt and pieces emulating the Gypsy artist's music. The latest one was released on January 23, 2020 as "Django Experiment V."

The names "Gagoug" and "Choti" were reportedly conferred by Django's widow Naguine on request from Matelo, who had learned the tunes without names. Django also worked on composing a Mass for use by the gypsies, which was not completed although an 8-minute extract exists, played by the organist Léo Chauliac for Reinhardt's benefit, via a 1944 radio broadcast; this can be found on the CD release "Gipsy Jazz School" and also on volume 12 of the "Intégrale Django Reinhardt" CD compilation.[lower-alpha 3]