The Django Reinhardt story

An era-defining artist

Paris 

22/01/2010 - 

Django Reinhardt, whose 100th anniversary falls today, bestrode the first half of the 20th century like a musical colossus. A guitarist and jazz player of international renown, this “gypsy hero” created over his short life his own particular musical style, at the crossroads of jazz and gypsy music.  

Nomadic childhood, child prodigy

Django (real name Jean-Baptiste) Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in a caravan in Liberchies, near Charleroi in Belgium, to a gypsy family. From his earliest days, Django’s life was essentially nomadic. With his parents and younger brother and lifelong confidant Joseph, aka "Nin-Nin", Django travelled across France, Italy and North Africa.

After the First World War and the departure of his father, Django’s mother Laurence Reinhardt settled with her children in encampments in the shantytown outskirts of Paris, at Porte de Choisy, then later at Porte d’Italie. From an early age, Django started playing music, displaying an extraordinary aptitude for the banjo, guitar and violin.  

Rumours of a child prodigy circulated through the encampments and music circles. From the age of 12 he was playing at balls, in bars and locales where the upper crust of Parisian society frequented. He recorded his first album in 1928, with accordionist Jean Vaissade. That same year, just as bandleader Jack Hylton offered him a tour to London, Django was lucky to escape with his life when his caravan caught fire, caused by the plastic flowers his wife used to make. He spent 18 months in hospital and lost the use of two of his guitar-playing fingers. However, with courage and tenacity he managed to start playing again. His brother bought him a guitar for him to “retrain” on, and Django developed an extraordinary method of three-fingered playing.

The call of jazz: the quintet

In the early thirties, a new sound invaded France from across the Atlantic: jazz. On the Côte d’Azur, where he was spending time along with his brother, Django discovered this new musical form through the painter Emile Savitry, and recognised in Louis Armstrong a true “brother”. From that point, he started blending swing sounds from America with his traditional gypsy music.

Back in Paris, he started to make a name for himself at the Boîte à Matelots nightclub. He was spotted on the Paris nightlife scene by Mistinguett and Jean Sablon, with whom he toured in 1933. But meeting the well-known violinist Stéphane Grappelli in 1934 marked the real turning point of his career. Together they founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, along with Joseph Reinhardt and Roger Chaput on rhythm guitar, and Louis Vola on double bass. This innovative and prolific ensemble, with more than 200 tracks recorded in six years, became emblematic of the sound of an era, and played with such illustrious musicians as Louis Armstrong, Barney Bigards and Coleman Hawkins.

War broke out in 1939 and Grappelli, on tour in London, decided to stay on in England. Django spent the war in France in the Free Zone, where he recorded one his biggest hits Nuages, with clarinettist and saxophonist Hubert Rostaing. Throughout this period, he seemed to benefit from the protection of jazz-loving German officers, saving him from deportation, the sad fate of so many gypsies.

At the end of the war he joined up with Grappelli once more to record their famous version of the Marseillaise, before touring the United States in 1946 with Duke Ellington’s band – an experience that Django didn’t enjoy. He had a problem with bending to the discipline of being in a band (he “forgot” to come back for the second half of a concert at the Carnegie Hall), and didn’t appreciate being relegated to “guest star” status.

Back in France, he started getting interested in be-bop, played with avant-garde artists, and experimented with the electric guitar. Then in 1951 he bought a house in Samois-sur-Seine, southeast of Paris, where he led a tranquil life fishing, playing billiards and socialising. Two years later, shortly after recording his last album with Martial Solal, he died following a stroke, leaving behind a number of heirs, including his son Babik, whose own son David continues to play gypsy music.

He died at only 43, packing an incredible amount into his short life. On his death, Jean Cocteau, one of his fans, wrote: "Django dying is like one of those gentle wild beasts who die in a cage. He lived as one dreams one might live: in a gypsy caravan".

 More Django music

Anne-Laure  Lemancel

Translation : Hugo  Wilcken