Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was perhaps the leading pioneer of jazz guitar. His parents were Romani gypsies and lived as nomads until Django was twenty. Despite poverty, ethnic discrimination, and severe injury to his hand in early adulthood, Django was able to harness his talents and become one of the most successful and influential musicians in the jazz field.
Django’s love of music was evident at an early age. His first instrument was the violin. When a neighbor noticed Django’s natural talent in music he gave him a banjo-guitar, which he quickly taught himself to play. Soon after, he learned play the guitar, and by the age of twelve was already performing with a popular accordionist, Guerino, at a dance hall. It wasn’t long before he started recording with various bands and musicians.
When Django was eighteen years old, the house he lived in with his wife caught fire. In the fire Django suffered first and second degree burns. As a result, his right leg was paralyzed and two of the fingers on his left hand were badly burned. The doctor recommended amputation for the leg and told Django to rule out ever being able to play the guitar again. But with determination, Django started to walk again. Within a year he had re-learned to play the guitar by using the two good fingers on his left hand for guitar solos and the two burned fingers for chord work.
The most important period in Django Reinhardt’s music career started when he co-founded Quintette du Hot Club de France with Stephane Grappelli. The group recorded smash hits such as Dinah, Tiger Rag, Oh Lady be Good, I Saw the Stars and many more successful jazz songs.
The band had a very successful run until the start of World War II in 1939. They were in England at the time; Django decided to return to France, and Grappelli decided to stay behind in England. Django would spend the next four years living under Nazi rule.
In 1940 Django debuted with the swing orchestra “Django’s Music”. The band had no drummer, and, aside from Alvino Rey in the US, Django was the only swing-era guitarist to lead a big band. He also formed a new combo with clarinetist Hubert Rostaing, drummer Pierre Fouad and his brother – Joseph Reinhardt – as second guitarist. This group also called themselves Quintet of the Hot Club of France at first. The group released most of their songs under French titles to avoid attracting Nazi attention, since the official stance on jazz was one of disapproval.
Django rejoined Grappelli after the war. He then went on to tour the US as a guest soloist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1946. He returned to France in 1947 after a disappointing engagement in NYC and job offers in California that didn’t pan out.
Django appears to have gone into a decline until 1949, often not showing up for concerts or showing up without an instrument. Then in 1949 he rejoined Grappelli and formed a jazz combo in Rome where he recorded his last album Djangology. Django returned to France in 1951 where he went into semi-retirement. He died in 1953 when he collapsed from a brain hemorrhage on the way home from a gig in Paris.
Django left his mark on many contemporary guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Chet Atkins. His son, Babik Reinhardt, also became a respected guitarist.
