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In my previous Vinyl Vibrations podcast of Gypsy Guitarist-Great, Django Reinhardt, I reviewed some of his early vinyl recordings. I reviewed nine songs which Django composed in the 12-year period between 1937 and 1949. As a composer, Reinhardt was prolific, with at least 112 original compositions to his credit. His own songs, in my opinion, are the most interesting of his works, because they are his creations, and embody his humor and his thinking in a most complete way.
- M10 Porto Cabello (D. Reinhardt) rec 5/21/1947, Paris, 3:18, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M11 Double Whisky (D. Reinhardt) rec 5/11/1951, Paris, 2:53, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M12 Vamp (D. Reinhardt) rec 5/11/1951, Paris, 2:39, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M13 Fleche D’or (D. Reinhardt) rec 1/30/1952, Paris, 3:00, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M14 Troublant Bolero (D. Reinhardt) rec 1/30/1952, Paris, 3:30, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M15 Nuits de St. Germain-des-Pres (D. Reinhardt) rec 1/30/1952, Paris, 3:05, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M16 Anouman (D. Reinhardt) rec 1/30/1953, Paris, 2:45, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M17 D.R. Blues (D. Reinhardt) rec 1/30/1953, Paris, 3:08, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
- M18 Deccaphonie (D. Reinhardt) rec 4/8/1953, Paris, 3:15, [Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
In Part I, I reviewed…..
- M1 Improvisation (D. Reinhardt), rec 1937,
- M2 Minor Swing (S.Grappelli-D.Reinhardt) , rec 9/9/1937,
- M3 Naguine (D. Reinhardt), rec 6/30/1939,
- M4 Djangology (D. Reinhardt), rec 5/8/1942,
- M5 Blues Clair (D. Reinhardt), rec 2/26/1943
- M6 Belleville (D. Reinhardt), rec 1950
- M7 Nuages (D. Reinhardt-J. Larue), rec 2/1/1946
- M8 Swing 48 (D. Reinhardt), rec 7/6/1947,
- M9 Brick Top (D. Reinhardt-S. Grappelli), rec Feb 1949
In today’s podcast, Part II, I continue with more of Django’s original compositions.
DJANGO REINHARDT lived in Belgium and France between 1910 and 1953 and is best known, and most widely published, for his performances with his jazz group “Quintette du Hot Club de France”. The quintet popularized the gypsy jazz style, also known as gypsy swing or hot club jazz or jazz manouche.
The story goes that Django and younger brother Joseph Reinhardt were “discovered” one day, by a French bass player, Louis Vola, as they were playing guitars on a beach at Toulon, a town in southern France. Vola invited them to jam with his own band, which included the young violinist, Stephane Grappelli, and guitarist Roger Chaput.
The “Hot Club de France” was a music society devoted to the preservation of jazz, and two of its leaders and promoters Pierre Nourry and Charles Delaunay urged Django and Stephane to form a full-time group. The rest is history…..and “The QUINTETTE DU HOT CLUB DE FRANCE was formed in 1934 and remained active for 15 years.
The original lineup included five members, Django, Grappelli, bassist Louis Volla, Django’s brother Joseph, and one other rhythm guitarist, Roger Chaput. There was no real percussion section in the quintette, the two rhythm guitars and bass created all of the percussion in this all-string ensemble. Django and Grappelli remained constants in future recordings, while rhythm guitarists and bassists rolled in and out of the group.
Five years later, when World War II broke out in 1939, the Quintette was on a concert tour of England. Reinhardt, returned home to France, and Grappelli stayed in England throughout WW2. Back in France, Django continued using the Quintette name but without violinist Grappelli, he substituted Hubert Rostaing on clarinet. He also added conventional rhythm section by adding drums.
After the war, in 1946, Grappelli and Django re-teamed under the Quintette banner in an all-string format. and the quintette performed and recorded until about 1948.
All of the songs we review today were recorded in Paris, in five recording sessions, between May 1947 and April 1953. These recordings are found on a rare, two-disc LP set titled “DJANGO REINHARDT et son QUINTETTE DU HOT CLUB DE FRANCE. This LP set was produced in France in 1973 under the Disques Festival label, and distributed by MUSICDISC-EUROPE.
M10 PORTO CABELLO. Our first song in this podcast is PORTO CABELLO recorded in Paris, May 1947 a Django Reinhardt composition. THE SONG TITLE—PORTO CABELLO…..brings to mind the seaside resort in Venezuela… Puerto Cabello, after which the CABELLO spider was named …… perhaps Django named it after this distant coastal city…..
PORTO CABELLO has some similarities to the movie theme from SOUTH PACIFIC—BALI HAI —a film to appear two years later, in 1949.
PORTO also has similarities to the Cole Porter song Night and Day, in which Django performs here…..
PORTO CABELLO opens and closes with the Hubert Rostaing clarinet melody. The mid-song guitar solo by Django is mind-boggling, given that the high-speed neck runs are all performed with just the first two fingers.
Personnel
- Hubert Rostaing cl
- Eugene Vees rg
- Emmanuel Soudieux, b
- Pierre Fouad dm
- Recorded 5/21/1947, Paris,
M11 DOUBLE WHISKY
Another Django Reinhardt Swing classic
The song has a nice, easy going stride to it. This is a larger arrangement, with lead parts for alto sax.…and muted trumpet ….Django is playing an electrified guitar. The album cover photo shows Django with a spruce-top, large-body guitar with electric pickup clamped in place over the sound hole.
DOUBLE WHISKY WAS
Recorded May 11, 1951, PARIS
Personnel included
- Django on guitar solo
- Pierre Michelot b
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
- Raymond Fol Piano
- Hubert Fol as
- Bernard Hullin tp
[Django Reinhardt et son Quintette du Hot Club de France, Distribution Musidisc-Europe1979]
M12 Next up is a song titled VAMP ….this is a beautiful, slow song for a quartet of guitar-sax-bass-and piano—–VAMP is another great Jazz Standard. Easy to learn, VAMP would be a good candidate for an intermediate music class such as Jazz 101. Again we have lead parts for alto sax and guitar
For those occasional dancers in the room that will do ONLY the slow dances, myself included, one would want a song like VAMP to play much, much longer…..this song lasts only 2 minutes 39 seconds !!
Recorded May 11, 1951, PARIS
Personnel included
- Django on guitar solo
- Pierre Michelot b
- Raymond Fol Piano
- Hubert Fol as
- and now…VAMP
M13 Fleche D’Or, that’s French for GOLDEN ARROW
Here we have a somewhat complex and really different sounding introduction and finale theme, with unison playing by guitar muted trumpet and alto sax. This is progressing away from SWING, with more of a bebop sound with a faster pace, alternating rhythms, and a combo consisting of saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums, and piano….plus Django on electric guitar and a screaming guitar at that.. What wild stuff for 1952!!!
Here is an early example of distortion or overdrive from Django’s guitar pickup. I note on the album cover the pickup has a single large white knob, no doubt a control for the amount of GAIN that is sent to the amplifier. Here is an example
It must have been exciting to take his playing to an even higher level, …..by adding amplification and now overdrive/distortion…..AND by progressing into a new style of Jazz Bebop !!!! As a guitar player myself, vicariously, it is a thrill to hear it years later.
Golden Arrow Fleche D’Or was
Recorded 1/30/1952, Paris, 3:00
Personnel included
- Django on guitar solo
- Roger Guerin on Trumpet
- Raymond Fol Piano
- Hubert Fol as
- …..and in the rhythm section ……..
- Barney Spieler b
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
M14 TROUBLANT BOLERO , or French for “Troubling Bolero” another fine D. Reinhardt composition. TROUBLANT BOLERO starts with an eerie Bass and rhythm guitar line, followed by a muted trumpet melody line, add in the harmony of the alto sax……..then KABOOM, a blazing guitar solo. Just as you get up off the floor from the last solo, Django knocks you over again with this powerful , melodic, finessed guitar solo…again electrified guitar with overdrive…..
TROUBLANT BOLERO was Recorded 1/30/1952, Paris, 3:30
Personnel included
- Django on guitar solo
- Roger Guerin on Trumpet
- Raymond Fol Piano
- Hubert Fol as
- …..and again in the rhythm section ……..
- Barney Spieler b
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
- ….And Now…
M15 Nights in the St. Germain-des-Pres , This song, is one of Django’s more obscure “BOP” tunes. But the title tells a great story. The song title refers to a neighborhood in Paris, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. This neighborhood was the center of the existentialist movement. There were many cafes, such as Café de Flore, and Les Deux Magots, which hosted French intellectuals during the post-war years and were a rendezvous of the literary and intellectual élite of Paris.
There is one particular cafe in this district, also named St. Germain-des-Pres, that has a rich history in jazz music. During the occupation of Paris by the Nazis, jazz music was outlawed on the airwaves and in public places.The hard-core jazz fans in Paris simply took their music down into the soundproof, underground cellar clubs of St.Germain-des-Pres and the Latin Quarter of Paris. There were many such Clubs such as Les Rats de Cave, The Flore, Les Deux Magots and the Tabou Club.
During the occupation, these were street level cafes by day, and jazz cellars by night. The title of this song comes from the reopening of the infamous club Saint-Germain des-Prés, where at this time, about 1951, Reinhardt was showing off a new sound—his new bebop sound.
Recorded 1/30/1952, Paris
Personnel included
- Django on guitar solo
- Roger Guerin on Trumpet
- Raymond Fol Piano
- Hubert Fol as
- …..and again in the rhythm section ……..
- Barney Spieler b
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
M16 ANOUMAN. Our next piece is An-ouman, written and recorded in January1953. In this recording session, Maurice Vander plays the piano introduction …on a very out-of-tune instrument …….The song has a sad and beautiful melody …played by Hubert Fol on alto sax.
Perhaps Django had some sense that his time on this earth was very short. Is he looking for strength? The song title may be a reference to a Hindu God named HANUMAN —according to Hindu scripture “Lord Hanuman is the only God of Hindus who will retain his divine power when darkness prevails…..”.
Reinhardt takes the lead mid-song, using a hollow-body electric guitar with reverb, giving a sound that fits well with the smoky, late night alto-sax and piano accompaniment. Beautiful music
Recorded 1/30/1953, Paris. Personnel included
- Maurice Vander P
- Hubert Fol as
- Django on guitar solo
- Pierre Michelot bass
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
- AND NOW….ANOUMAN, composed by Django Reinhardt
M17 D. R. Blues, composed and recorded by Django Reinhardt in 1953 …A short 3-minute, 12-bar blues song, arranged for a quartet format…….
Personnel included
- Maurice Vander P
- Django on electric guitar
- Pierre Michelot bass
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
- …
M18 DECCAPHONIE
Django’s final recording session took place on April 8th 1953, and it produced this gem…… DECCAPHONIE…..his last composition ….and his last recording committed to wax. He recorded this up-tempo song with……
Personnel included
- Martial Solal on Piano
- “Fats” Sadi Lallemand on vibraphone
- …..and the rhythm section was
- Pierre Michelot bass
- Pierre Lemarchand dm
- PAUSE
The song title….Deccaphonie…. is French for Decca Voice. Many of Django’s recordings were produced on the DECCA label, in the format of the time…..…….these records can be found in 78RPM, 45RPM and LP records, produced from 1939 to 1963. In many, many recordings, it was the DECCA label that gave Django a lasting voice for his work……so the song title DECCAPHONIE seems so appropriate for this song.
Just five weeks after the DECCAPHONIE recording, on May 15th 1953, while walking home from the railway station after playing in a Paris club……Django suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died shortly thereafter, at home. Django Reinhardt, Gypsy Jazz Guitar Great, was dead at the age of 43.
And so I close out Part II of the Django Reinhardt podcast with this up-tempo, 12-bar improvisation. From April 1953, here is DECCAPHONIE…by Django Reinhardt