Django Reinhardt

Jean Baptiste (Django) Reinhardt ( Liberchies , January 23 1910 - Samois-sur-Seine ( Fontainebleau ), May 16 1953 ) was a Belgian manouche or Sinti - guitarist .His love was for jazz . He developed his own style known as jazz manouche or gypsy jazz and is now considered one of the greatest artists of the Belgian jazz history .

Contents

 * 1 Biography
 * 2 Style
 * 3 Events
 * 4 Influences
 * 5 Reinhardt in popular culture
 * 6 Discography
 * 6.1 Albums
 * 7 Trivia
 * 8 External links

Biography
Remembrance of Django Reinhardt

Reinhardt was born in Liberchies, a village in the Belgian municipality of Pont-à-Celles ( Hainault ) and was baptized there on 28 January. The village was then on the border of three municipalities (Liberchies, Luttre and Buzet) and would be chosen by the Sinti, because they could then easily move their caravans to another municipality if they were about to be deported. The family traveled through France , Corsica and North Africa and finally Reinhardt grew up in a trailer park in Paris . Together with his younger brother, he learned guitar , banjo and fiddle playing, without following music lessons. Django only learned in the 30s reading and writing Stéphane Grappelli .

As teenagers joined the two brothers in Paris and participated in the Bals musette. In 1928 he met bassist Louis Vola, which several years later would join his quintet . In the same year he recorded his first album. In the winter of 1928 hit Reinhardt (18) in a fire in his caravan seriously injured. The left side of his body was badly burned and his left leg had to be amputated. The superstitious Django refused categorically. Through his mutilated left hand - the little finger and ring finger were paralyzed and disfigured - guitar seemed impossible. His brother still brought a guitar to his sickroom and perseverance - he spent nearly two years in hospital - he taught himself to play again, in the meantime, his typical style: the jazz manouche was born.

In 1931 left the painter Emile Savitry hear jazz music, through recordings of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington and from then sought Reinhardt joining the French jazz musicians.

In 1934 he met the violinist Stéphane Grappelli in a nightclub in Montparnasse . The pair co-founded Reinhardt's brother Joseph (rhythm guitar), Roger Chaput (rhythm guitar) and Louis Vola ( bass ), the Quintette du Hot Club de France on a combination consisting only stringed instruments: violin, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass. Their first performance was so successful that the record company ( Ultra Phone ) offered them a contract. In 1937, Reinhardt and Grappelli performed with the American jazz violinist Eddie South on. The quintet continued to perform until just before the outbreak of World War II in 1939 . Stéphane Grappelli stayed in London and Reinhardt traveled back to Paris.

By American troops in the meantime he became the United States known. Although the Nazis during World War persecuted Gypsies, they were popular Reinhardt untouched. The Luftwaffeofficier Dietrich Schulz-Kohn, later known as Doktor Jazz, loved his music and held his hand above the head. Reinhardt played include the song "Bei mir bist du schön" - a Yiddish song written by Sholom Secunda 1932, which was especially popular in Germany - and became the most famous gypsy musician in Europe. He was even asked in Berlin to come and play for the German High Command. Rather than going into the offer he tried to flee. At the border between France and Switzerland, he was arrested, but then released on the intercession of Dietrich Schulz-Kohn. In 1943 he performed in his native village.

In 1946 Reinhardt played in America, invited by the orchestra of Duke Ellington. The members of this famous orchestra and the conductor were surprised when Reinhardt after the remark "play but, I follow it" shook the finest improvisations from the sleeve. The American tour was not a success: Django could not settle in the States and remained, as usual, not the appointments, which was more sensitive in the United States than in Paris. Django came into contact with Les Paul .

In 1948 Reinhardt accompanied the first productions of Bobbejaan Schoepen, the first Belgian singer broke internationally. In 1947 and 1949 Reinhardt again made recordings with Stephane Grappelli. He then increasingly showing an interest in the new and ground-breaking musical genre be-bop and began to play more often electronically. Towards the end of his life he devoted himself increasingly to painting and fishing in the picturesque Samois-sur-Seine.

Django Reinhardt died in 1953 at the age of 43 to Samois-sur-Seine (Fontainebleau) from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Style [ edit ]
Copy of a Selmer Maccaferri guitar

Reinhardt played often large acoustic guitars, designed by Mario Maccaferri and built by Henri Selmer . His playing was virtuosic, emotionally rich and especially for time inventive. It could be quickly and relaxed at the same time.

As still many in his style, Reinhardt could not read musical notation. Others had to write the music for him. The story goes that the classical guitarist Andrés Segovia after Reinhardt had improvised for him, asking where he could buy scores - hitherto apparently not realizing that this music for each moment is unique.

Reinhardt composed so probably on ear and memory hundreds of pieces, some of which grew to 'standards' in the jazz, like Minor Swing (1937), Nuages ​​[1] (1940), Swing 42 (1941) and Djangology [2] (1945 ).

Remarkably, the Hot Club de France 'style typical European has contributed to the history of jazz through his gypsy origins.

Festivals [ edit ]
Every year there are worldwide Django Reinhardt festivals. Among other since 1983 in the French Samois-sur-Seine held a festival. In 2004 it was decided that the festival will take place annually around his death. It also takes a swing festival since 2002 in Liberchies, the birthplace of Django. There is a memorial stone at the pasture where Reinhardt was born. Then state by its name as registered in the register of births -. Reinhart instead of the more famous Reinhardt DJANGOFOLLLIES, a Belgian jazz festival commemorates annually in January Django Reinhardt's birthday in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. Furthermore, in Tilburg, the annual Django Reinhardt Festival.

Influences [ edit ]
Worldwide, there are many groups and thousands of guitarists who play this jazz à la Manouche. Sacha Distel was as a young man grabbed by Django's guitar playing. For many Sinti musicians in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands is the music of Django Reinhardt part of their lives. In Belgium Jokke Schreurs an adept . Koen De Cauter and his Waso Quartet, Hans Mortelmans and soloist Fapy Lafertin worked for years with the spread of this music in Belgium and the Netherlands. Even the Piotto's keep the tradition alive, supplemented with authentic gypsy music. Netherlands does include the Rosenberg Trio, Sonnekai, Hot Club de Frank , Pigalle 44 and violinist Tim Kliphuis . From Italy comes The Tolga Quartet from France and Birelli Lagrene and Angelo Debarre .

Les Paul, blues guitarist BB King and many musicians from the pop -spectrum say they are influenced by Django's style. We mention here only: from The Allman Brothers to Jimi Hendrix, from Pink Floyd to Dire Straits , and Hank Marvin to Grateful Dead .

Reinhardt in popular culture [ edit ]
Reinhardt comes in various films, such as in the opening scene of the animated film " The Triplets of Belleville "(2003). The third and fourth finger of the animation-Reinhardt there are considerably smaller than the fingers that are used for guitar game.

Reinhardt celebrity dominates in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999). This fictional biography focuses on a fictional American guitarist Emmet Ray ( Sean Penn ) who finds himself the best in the world "with the exception of gypsy in Paris." The fictitious story of this Emmett Ray Woody Allen borrowed many anecdotes from the biography "Django Reinhardt" by Charles Delauney, as it constantly late or not come at all; the disastrous idea of ​​floating moon in which the guitarist takes place; his fear of heights; excessive wages which he asks (and he gambled with pleasure after the concert). Guitarist Howard Alden gave his contribution to the soundtrack.

Reinhardt is also portrayed by guitarist John Jorgenson in the movie "Head in the Clouds'. In the classic Italian western 'Django', the hero is probably named Reinhardt. During the height of the film he is forced to shoot with mutilated hands. Reinhardt is the idol of the character Arvid in the movie 'Swing Kids', where Arvid his left maimed by the actions of a member of the Hitler Youth, but inspired by Reinhardt continues.

Reinhardt's music has been used in many films, including The Matrix (1999), The Aviator (2004) and Chocolat (2001). His music also appears in the soundtrack of video games such as "Mafia" (2002) and 'Bioshock' (2007).

The text of the Norwegian song "Tanta til Beate 'Lille Nilsen is the name of Reinhardt several times.

[Trivia edit ]

 * In 2005/2006 held Jan Akkerman a theater in honor of Django Reinhardt.
 * In 2005 he was nominated in the election of the Greatest Belgian . He finished in the Flemish version at no. 66 and in the Walloon on 76.
 * The film "Swing" from 2002 depicts the life of the Sinti like Django Reinhardt lived and is therefore also a "tribute" to him. Mandino Reinhardt, a descendant of Django Reinhardt, playing along with it.
 * The web application - framework Django is named after Django Reinhardt [3] .