Django Reinhardt
DELAY: Sorry about the delay, this weeks Jazzblog entry (on Pat Metheny) is going to be delayed by 24 hours. Many apologies.
[NOTE: The seventh post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below.]
[NOTE: The seventh post in the Musical Theory series of posts is below.]
Link (Red Hot Jazz Django Site):
http://www.redhotjazz.com/django.html
http://www.redhotjazz.com/django.html
Name: Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt
Born: January 23, 1910
Died: May 16, 1953
Instrument: Guitar
Django is pronounced "zhane-go":
Django was born in Liberchies, Pont-a-Celles, Belgium, but grew up in a gypsy camp just outside of Paris, France near the Choisy gate. His childhood would have been a strange contradiction, as the French gypsies had a very arhciac value system but they were located in very close proximity to the big, bustling city of Paris.
When Django expressed an interest in music, at a young age, he was given a banjo-guitar by his neighbour. (A banjo-guitar is a banjo that has six strings and is tuned like a guitar.) He quickly became proficient at this instrument by watching the fingers of the older musicians as they played. It is also said that Django started on violin and was given a banjo-guitar by his neighbour when he expressed interest in that particular instrument. I'm not sure which is actually correct. Either way, on the first recordings of him made in 1928, he plays banjo.
Before the age of thirteen Django was a gigging musician, playing at the dance hall on Rue Monge with accordionist Guerino. He became a very talented player, yet at the time he appeared on his first recording he still couldn't read or write and his name appeared as "Jiango Renard".
Fire and Web-fingered Guitar:
(Well, okay not quite web-fingered.) On November 2, 1928 Django returned home to his caravan after playing a gig in Paris. It was 1:00 in the morning and his caravan was filled with cellophane flowers that his wife had spent the day making to sell in the market the next morning. Either Django or his wife spotted a mouse, and when Django attempted to corner it, candle in hand to light the chase, he accidentally touched the flame to one of the flowers. Of course being good old-fashioned flammable cellophane, the whole caravan lit ablaze. Somehow Django managed to wrap himself in a blanket and rush his wife out of the inferno caravan to saftey. He badly burned his right knee and his left hand, fusing several fingers together. This would be a devistating injury to any guitar player, but for Django simply adjusted his technique.
He could still manage to play the closest two strings with the ring and pinky finger, but couldn't extend them past that due to tendon shrinkage from the heat of the fire. This meant from that point on, Django had to solo with his index and middle finger only. All his fingering had to be reworked to accommodate these limitations, making Django a very unique player.
Probably one of the most distinctive things about Django's playing is the feel. As you listen to the files I have posted below, the chug-chug-chug-chug-chug feeling is very distinctly Django. He is a very driving guitar player. Whereas Bob Marley is a good example of a guitar player sitting behind the beat, Django is an equally good example of sitting in front of the beat. Just ever so slightly, without losing time (although that can't be guaranteed in either case). As you listen to Harlem Swing hear how he accents the beats 2 and 4. It has been said you can pick the musicians out in a room of people that are clapping along to music by watching who claps on 2 and 4, and who claps on 1 and 3. Besides the feel of his rhythm, Django plays some wonderfully lyrical lines in his solos. The man knew his Jazz changes, even if he just learned them by ear. Fabulous improvisation, and flawless for only two fingers.
Django Referenced:
References to the great Django Reinhardt are everywhere, particularly in film and television. The opening sequence to the very strange animated Les Triplettes de Belleville features a characture of Django that puffs smoke out of his ears as he plays. In the movie Chocolat, Johnny Depp plays Django's Minor Swing, which can also be heard in the background of the Oracle scene in The Matrix. Rythm Futur and I Can't Give You Anything But Love can be found in The Aviator, Nuages in Gattaca, and even in Sealab 2021 the "Bebop Cola" machine has a flavor dedicated to Django. "Ah, Mango Reinhardt, the thinking man's pop!"
Django may have passed away two years into his retirement in Fontainbleau, but today's pop culture shows that his work will never be forgotten. With two fingers on the piano, most people can play the atrocity that is "Chopsticks". With two fingers on a guitar, Django Reinhardt made music!
Born: January 23, 1910
Died: May 16, 1953
Instrument: Guitar
Django is pronounced "zhane-go":
Django was born in Liberchies, Pont-a-Celles, Belgium, but grew up in a gypsy camp just outside of Paris, France near the Choisy gate. His childhood would have been a strange contradiction, as the French gypsies had a very arhciac value system but they were located in very close proximity to the big, bustling city of Paris.
When Django expressed an interest in music, at a young age, he was given a banjo-guitar by his neighbour. (A banjo-guitar is a banjo that has six strings and is tuned like a guitar.) He quickly became proficient at this instrument by watching the fingers of the older musicians as they played. It is also said that Django started on violin and was given a banjo-guitar by his neighbour when he expressed interest in that particular instrument. I'm not sure which is actually correct. Either way, on the first recordings of him made in 1928, he plays banjo.
Before the age of thirteen Django was a gigging musician, playing at the dance hall on Rue Monge with accordionist Guerino. He became a very talented player, yet at the time he appeared on his first recording he still couldn't read or write and his name appeared as "Jiango Renard".
Fire and Web-fingered Guitar:
(Well, okay not quite web-fingered.) On November 2, 1928 Django returned home to his caravan after playing a gig in Paris. It was 1:00 in the morning and his caravan was filled with cellophane flowers that his wife had spent the day making to sell in the market the next morning. Either Django or his wife spotted a mouse, and when Django attempted to corner it, candle in hand to light the chase, he accidentally touched the flame to one of the flowers. Of course being good old-fashioned flammable cellophane, the whole caravan lit ablaze. Somehow Django managed to wrap himself in a blanket and rush his wife out of the inferno caravan to saftey. He badly burned his right knee and his left hand, fusing several fingers together. This would be a devistating injury to any guitar player, but for Django simply adjusted his technique.
He could still manage to play the closest two strings with the ring and pinky finger, but couldn't extend them past that due to tendon shrinkage from the heat of the fire. This meant from that point on, Django had to solo with his index and middle finger only. All his fingering had to be reworked to accommodate these limitations, making Django a very unique player.
Probably one of the most distinctive things about Django's playing is the feel. As you listen to the files I have posted below, the chug-chug-chug-chug-chug feeling is very distinctly Django. He is a very driving guitar player. Whereas Bob Marley is a good example of a guitar player sitting behind the beat, Django is an equally good example of sitting in front of the beat. Just ever so slightly, without losing time (although that can't be guaranteed in either case). As you listen to Harlem Swing hear how he accents the beats 2 and 4. It has been said you can pick the musicians out in a room of people that are clapping along to music by watching who claps on 2 and 4, and who claps on 1 and 3. Besides the feel of his rhythm, Django plays some wonderfully lyrical lines in his solos. The man knew his Jazz changes, even if he just learned them by ear. Fabulous improvisation, and flawless for only two fingers.
Django Referenced:
References to the great Django Reinhardt are everywhere, particularly in film and television. The opening sequence to the very strange animated Les Triplettes de Belleville features a characture of Django that puffs smoke out of his ears as he plays. In the movie Chocolat, Johnny Depp plays Django's Minor Swing, which can also be heard in the background of the Oracle scene in The Matrix. Rythm Futur and I Can't Give You Anything But Love can be found in The Aviator, Nuages in Gattaca, and even in Sealab 2021 the "Bebop Cola" machine has a flavor dedicated to Django. "Ah, Mango Reinhardt, the thinking man's pop!"
Django may have passed away two years into his retirement in Fontainbleau, but today's pop culture shows that his work will never be forgotten. With two fingers on the piano, most people can play the atrocity that is "Chopsticks". With two fingers on a guitar, Django Reinhardt made music!
posted by Rose at
12:02 AM
4 Comments:
Neat Tidbit:
Django always makes me think of a jazz piano player I saw in Montana once. I went with my dad and his current piano player to a bar, to see an act that my dad had stumbled upon the previous night and thought was pretty cool. As we entered the bar we could barely see the face of the piano player over the top of the upright he was playing on, in the back left corner of the stage. As we stood at the back of a packed room my dad turned to his piano player and asked, "So what do you think?" His piano player listened to the band for a bit and shrugged, "Not bad." My dad grinned at him and said "No. Go and take a closer look." My dad's piano player crossed the room to get a better look at what the piano player in the band was doing. He came back with an absolutely shocked look on his face. "Holy shit."
That piano player in the band that night only had one arm. His playing would have been "okay" for a two armed guy... for one arm, it was crazy. I wish I could remember his name!
Jack
By
Rose, at Mon Jan 30, 01:45:00 AM MST
Wow! and Wow again! I didn't know this about Django, for one. For two, wow! One armed piano player!
BTW, heheh, very glad to see "someone" finally visited the much -deserved -to- be- visited -Jazzblog.;) xoxo
Yeah!
By
Nabonidus, at Mon Jan 30, 09:10:00 AM MST
Wow, Django was an innovator alright and I could really hear that driving chunk-a chunk-a sound. What's amazing is that he had the passion for guitar to persevere even after he was so badly maimed. Like that drummer in Def Leopard. Looking forward to seeing what artists you'll feature next. Thanks
By
Gary, at Mon Jan 30, 07:11:00 PM MST
I'd heard Django, but never heard OF Django before I met my fiance. In your mentions of places he's "shown up" you could add that he's in the background of "Great Chefs of the World" that used to come on Food Network. There was also that movie with Sean Penn - Sweet and Lowdown, where the main character (another guitarist whose name I've forgotten, of course) was freakin obsessed with Django. I can see how. Well, now I've got to go drag out my old man's records.
By
polijn, at Thu Feb 02, 03:54:00 PM MST
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