Django Reinhardt

Reinhardt in 1946

Background information

Birth name Jean Reinhardt

Born 23 January 1910

Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium

Died 16 May 1953 (aged 43)

Samois-sur-Seine, France

Genres Jazz, gypsy jazz, bebop, Romani music

Occupation(s) Guitarst, composer

Instruments Guitar, violin, banjo

 Years active 1928–1953

Associated acts Stéphane Grappelli,[1]Quintette du Hot Club

de France

Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) stage name Django Reinhardt (French: [dʒãŋɡo
ʁɛjnaʁt] or [dʒɑ̃ɡo ʁenɑʁt]), was a Belgian-born Romani-French jazz
guitarist, musician and composer, regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth
century. He was the first jazz talent to emerge from Europe and remains the most significant.[2]:cover[3]
With violinist Stéphane Grappelli,[1] Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de
France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead
instrument.[4] Reinhardt recorded in France with many visiting American musicians,
including Coleman Hawkinsand Benny Carter, and briefly toured the United States with Duke
Ellington's orchestra in 1946. He died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 43.
Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz, including "Minor
Swing",[5] "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and "Nuages". Jazz guitarist Frank
Vignola claims that nearly every major popular-music guitarist in the world has been influenced by
Reinhardt.[6] Over the last few decades, annual Django festivals have been held throughout Europe
and the U.S., and a biography has been written about his life.[2] In February 2017, the Berlin
International Film Festival held the world premiere of the French film, Django.

Contents

 1Biography
o 1.1Early life
o 1.2Marriage and injury
o 1.3Discovery of jazz
o 1.4Formation of the quintet
o 1.5World War II
o 1.6United States tour
o 1.7After the quintet
o 1.8Final years
 2Family
 3Legacy
o 3.1Tributes
 4Influence
 5Reinhardt in popular culture
 6Discography
o 6.1Releases in his lifetime
o 6.2Posthumous compilations (LP, cassette and CD)
o 6.3Unrecorded compositions
 7See also
 8Notes
 9References

Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium,[7] into a Belgian
family[3] of Manouche Romani descent.[7] His father was Jean Eugene Weiss, but domiciled in Paris
with his wife, he went by Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt, his wife's surname, to avoid French military
conscription.[8] His mother, Laurence Reinhardt, was a dancer.[8] The birth certificate refers to "Jean
Reinhart, son of Jean Baptiste Reinhart, artist, and Laurence Reinhart, housewife, domiciled in
Paris".[9]
A number of authors have repeated the claim that Reinhardt's nickname, Django, is Romani for "I
awake";[2]:4–5 however, it may also simply have been a diminutive, or local Walloon version, of
"Jean".[10] Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he
started playing the violin, banjo, and guitar. He became adept at stealing chickens, which was
viewed as a noble skill by the Romani, because part of their means of survival on the road was to
steal from the non-Gypsy world around them.[2]:5[11]:14 His father reportedly played music in a family
band comprising himself and seven brothers; a surviving photograph shows this band including his
father on piano.
Reinhardt was attracted to music at an early age, first playing the violin. At the age of 12 he received
a banjo-guitar as a gift. He quickly learned to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he
watched, who would have included local virtuoso players of the day such as Jean "Poulette" Castro
and Auguste "Gusti" Malha, as well as from his uncle Guiligou, who played violin, banjo and
guitar.[2]:28 Reinhardt was able to make a living playing music by the time he was 15. He received little
formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life.[11]:13

Marriage and injury[edit]

At the age of 17 Reinhardt married Florine "Bella" Mayer, a girl from the same gypsy settlement,
according to gypsy custom (although not an official marriage under French law).[12]:9 The following
year he recorded for the first time.[12]:9 On these recordings, made in 1928, Reinhardt plays the
"banjo" (actually the banjo-guitar) accompanying the accordionists Maurice Alexander, Jean
Vaissade and Victor Marceau, and the singer Maurice Chaumel. His name was now drawing
international attention, such as from British bandleader Jack Hylton, who came to France just to hear
him play.[12]:10 He offered him a job on the spot, and Reinhardt accepted.[12]:10
Before he had a chance to start with the band, however, he nearly lost his life when the caravan he
and his wife lived in caught fire when he knocked over a candle on his way to bed. His wife made
artificial flowers from extremely flammable celluloid. They caught fire, engulfing the wagon in flames
almost immediately. Reinhardt dragged himself and his wife through the fire to safety, but suffered
extensive burns on his left hand and other areas.[13] He received first- and second-degree burns over
half his body. His right leg was paralyzed, and the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand were badly
burned. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again, and they intended to amputate one
of his legs.[11]:43–44 Reinhardt refused to have the surgery and left the hospital after a short time; he
was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane.[12]:10
Two of his fingers remained paralyzed. By sheer will, he taught himself to overcome his now
permanent handicap by using only his thumb and two fingers.[12]:10[14] His brother, Joseph Reinhardt,
also an accomplished guitarist, bought Reinhardt a new guitar. With rehabilitation and practice, he
re-learned his craft in a completely new way. He played all his guitar solos with only the index and
middle fingers and used the two injured fingers only for chord work.[11]:31–35
In 1929, his wife gave birth to a son, Henri "Lousson" Reinhardt. As a result of the trauma and
injuries, he and Bella parted company soon after. His son later took the surname of his mother's new
husband, Baumgartner. He later recorded with Django.[15]

Discovery of jazz