DJANGO REINHARDT

"Jean Baptiste (Django) Reinhardt 1910-1953.

Guitarist/Composer born to gypsy parents in Belgium. Though he never attended a day of school -he could barely write his name-he possessed the qualities of a prince and the gifts of a genius. At the age of 18 he lost the use of two fingers on his left hand when he was severely burned in a fire. As a result of this accident, he devised an entirely new approach to the guitar, creating a voice for the instrument that is unsurpassed even today."

"The creation of the QHCF was direct result of the Hot Club of France´s search for an all-French musical group to represent their organization. This small society of French jazz enthusiasts was spearheaded by Hugues Panassie and then nurtured by Charles Delaunay. Primarly, they entertained themselves by playing and studying imported American jazz records, but in a effort to increase their activities they began to promote jazz concerts. Initially drawing from the visiting American musicans and the modest but growing school of French jazz players, they presented their first concert in May of 1933. Django Reinhardt had come to the attention of the society in the spring of 1933, and it was in that winter that he began to be featured at their concerts, in mid-1934, while backstage during a performance at an afternoon tea-dance.

Django and Stephane Grappelli (whom he met at the end of 1931) began to improvise on the jazz standards of the day such as Dinah, Lady Be Good and Tiger Rag. These impromptu sessions grew into a daily practise (with three acoustic guitars, bass and violin) and led to the making of an audition record in September 1934."

"Due to the efforts of Duke Ellington in October 1946, Django made his first and only appearance in the U.S. (Oct.1946-Jan.1947). Ellington, who first met Reinhardt in 1939, was anxious to have Django return to the States with him then, but the outbreak of war prevented this. It wasn´t until seven years later that the fabulous gypsy arrived in N.Y.C. and performed a series of concerts as a guest soloist with the Ellington Orchestra. Not having brought his trusty Selmer guitar from Europe, Django was forced to use an American Gibson amplified guitar. Recordings made during a concert in Chicago reveal Django to be quite at home with the instrument, even utilizing the sustaining power which the amplified guitar possesses. For recordings and apperances from 1947 through 1950, Django performed intermittently on the amplified guitar, opting at times to use his acoustic instrument.

It wasn´t until 1951 that he exclusively played his amplified instrument (the Selmer with a pickup), using this voice to express his "new" ideas and repertoire in the 1950s world of "modern" jazz. "

Source: THE DJANGO REINHARDT ANTHOLOGY , Jewel Music Publishing 1984. Mike Peters/Dan Fox. In this informative book is also mentioned the existence of THE DJANGO REINHARDT SOCIETY 25-38 76th street, Jackson Heights, N.Y. 11370. More information is surely today to be found on Internet.