Would have turned 105 today* Jean Django Reinhardt (January 23, 1910 – May 16, 1953) was a Belgium-born French guitarist and composer of Romani ethnicity. Reinhardt is often regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time; he was the first important European jazz musician who made major contributions to the development of the guitar genre. After his third and fourth fingers were paralyzed when he suffered burns in a fire, Reinhardt used only the index and middle fingers of his left hand on his solos. He created an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique (sometimes called hot jazz guitar), which has since become a living musical tradition within French Gypsy culture. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as one of the most original bands in the history of recorded jazz. Reinhardts most popular compositions have become jazz standards, including Minor Swing, Daphne, Belleville, Djangology, Swing 42, and Nuages. For about a decade after Reinhardts death, interest in his musical style was minimal. In the fifties, bebop superseded swing in jazz, rock and roll took off, and electric instruments became dominant in popular music. Reinhardts friends and sidemen, such as Pierre Ferret and his brothers, continued to perform their own version of gypsy swing. Since the mid-sixties, there has been a revival of interest in Reinhardts music. Acoustic music was revived with the folk movement. Several of Reinhardts near-contemporaries, such as Paul Tchan Tchou Vidal, recorded for the first time in the sixties and seventies. In 1973 Stéphane Grappelli formed a successful Quintette-style band with British guitarists Diz Disley and Denny Wright. Grappelli formed many other musical partnerships, including John Etheridge, Nigel Kennedy and David Grisman, and became very popular. He influenced other musicians, such as Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis. New generations began to emerge, for instance, Jimmy and Stochelo Rosenberg, Paulus Schäfer and their relatives from the Netherlands. Another musical clan is the Reinhardt brothers and cousins from Germany, distant relatives of Reinhardts. Boulou Ferré, son of Matelot Ferret, was a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13, and studied under Olivier Messiaen. He continues to perform with his brother Elios; they can mix bebop and classical music with gypsy swing. Biréli Lagrène and Angelo Debarre were other prodigies. Most of the above-mentioned are Roma who learned music by the gypsy method, involving intense practice, direct imitation of older musicians (often family members) and playing by ear, with little formal musical study. Since the late 1970s, workshops, books and videos have become available, allowing musicians worldwide to master the style. An early non-Roma gypsy-style guitarist was René Didi Duprat (b. 1926). Contemporary guitarists include John Jorgenson, Jon Larsen (and his Hot Club de Norvège, established 1979); Joscho Stephan, Andreas Öberg, Frank Vignola, George Cole, Stephane Wrembel and Reynold Philipsek. Their music is sometimes jokingly referred to as Gadjo jazz (Gadjo is the Romani term for a non-Romani.)[citation needed] Young players such as Adrien Moignard and Gwenole Cahue represent the rising generation. The popularity of gypsy jazz has generated as increasing number of festivals, such as the Samois-sur-Seine festival (started about 1980), the various DjangoFests held in the USA, and Django in June, an annual camp for Gypsy jazz musicians and aficionados. ♪
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 11:53:30 +0000
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