It is not often that one man comes to define an entire musical genre, let alone one as significant, influential and toe-tappingly buoyant as to cement itself into the musical consciousness of future generations. Known as Hot Jazz, Gypsy Swing, Gypsy Jazz or Jazz Manouche, Jean-Baptiste ‘Django’ Reinhardt brought together chromatic Romani rhythms with a more contemporary Western style-swing of the 1930s and defied both extraordinary physical and cultural hurdles to achieve the sound we still appreciate today.
Jean Reinhardt, given the name ‘Django’ (a Romani word meaning ‘I awake’), was born in Belgium in 1910 but spent the early part of his life in a camp on the outskirts of Paris. Born into a family of entertainers, it was in this environment which Django became ingratiated into music, picking up the violin and banjo from a very young age. His prodigious talent landed him appreciation both inside and outside the confines of the camp. By the time he was 17, his ability on the banjo had him playing in cafés and nightclubs all across Paris and he rapidly made a name for himself, making recordings and appearing in big bands. However, in 1928 and on the brink of a promising musical career, he was suddenly hit by a life-changing accident.
One night, a vicious fire swept through his caravan causing severe burns which paralysed him for a whole year. His left hand was particularly badly burnt, with both his fourth and fifth fingers permanently paralysed. With his fingering hand apparently useless without the use of two digits, Paris’s underbelly of back-boulevard dancehalls and Romani camps alike lamented a sad end to a promising career. However, to help him through his rehabilitation, Django’s brother Joseph gave him a Selmer Macaferri guitar and over time he taught himself a technique that enabled him to play despite his handicap, covering all the necessary strings and frets with his two good fingers. Such incredible dexterity granted him access back into the Paris music scene, allowing him to write his own chapter of music history in the decades to come.
The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France
It is unclear how many songs Reinhardt recorded in his life, but some suggest it to be up to a thousand. A year after his death, the recording of The Quintet of The Hot Club of France was released; a fitting tribute to the life and times of Reinhardt. Named after the group which Django formed and performed in with aspiring violinist Stéphane Grappelli throughout the 1930s, the record gives a fantastic insight into the style which Django stamped across Western music.
The opener, “Swing From Paris” perfectly encapsulates Django’s revolutionary arrival onto the Western jazz scene. The guitars, acoustic bass and Grappelli’s piercing violin create an amazing cacophony of sound. As an already proven accompanist in his early days, this record hears Django at his very best; leading from the front with a variety of one string solos, in both calm and furious tempos, all of which are touched with the fluency of his improvisation. The initial impression of his sound is one of liberation. The lack of drums gives the music a liberty to amble, giving it a je ne sais quoi; the joie de vive of an unimpeded sound encountering modern times.
“My Sweet” – Django Reinhardt.
Whether demonstrating remarkable dexterity (given his handicap) on “My Sweet” or performing the endlessly winding solo piece “Improvisation”, Django’s passion is there for all to hear. Where old style swing and bebop musicians would have used drummers to keep time, the Quintet favoured the use of the rhythm guitars and bass with a technique known as ‘la pompe’ (the pump) – a rapid up, down, down strumming which sets the pace. This rhythm was invariably accompanied by a swing component from the bass and violins, which combined Django’s Romani influences with all the flair and freedom of Hot Jazz. The coming together of these styles gave birth to Jazz Manouche (or ‘Gypsy’ Jazz).
The record encapsulates that exciting and innovative period of modern history, capturing the exhilaration and atmosphere of ‘Hot Club’ jazz nights. Take “Sweet Georgia Brown” – a jazz standard written in 1925 by Ben Bernie – which is full of swing, rhythm and that ha-cha-cha. The Quintet of the Hot Club of France’s version replaces horns with strings, and it swiftly becomes a track in which to grab Mademoiselle by the waist to. Grappelli leads the charge, as la pompe pompes away. Django then slips into the next verse with another mesmerising solo, and his own bee-like strumming. The interpolated jazz talk “one more step, one more” (a common feature on this particular record) merely adds to the spontaneous Hot Club atmosphere. This juxtaposition of Hot Club jazz with fresh ‘Gypsy Swing’ mirrored Django’s own arrival into mainstream European culture from his background as somewhat of an outsider.
“Sweet Georgia Brown” – Django Reinhardt.
As a result, Django Reinhart’s music is not merely known for originality, but also as a mark of bold defiance. Across Europe, the Romani people were (and some might say remain) stigmatised. As with Django’s own experience, Romani were very much on the fringes of society, both socially and geographically. Living in a camp near the Choisy Gate – one of the many gates in the ancient fortified walls of Paris – Django must have been drawn to the sights and sounds of the nearby city, which by and large rejected his background and origins (despite actually being as much Belgian, as Romani). Django’s boldness to play songs such as “Nocturne”, which combine an inner-city sophistication with melancholy Romani blues is a testament to his determination to defy cultural stereotypes. The sadness of this waltz, swayed majestically by Grappelli’s violin is injected with an optimism by Django’s perky guitar work. It is a true verification of his struggle to overcome prejudice. Sadly, a starker test was yet to come.
While the 1930s was on the one hand a time of cultural exploration summed up by the formation of the Quintet of the Hot Club of Paris and the development of swing, it was also a dark period where Western art, culture and social freedoms were strangled by the rise of the Third Reich. Not only did the Nazi’s see the Romani as racial inferiors, but they also enforced a censorship ban on jazz music, a seen as a product of Jewish, Black and Gypsy culture. On tour with the Quintet in London when war broke out in 1939, Django immediately returned to Paris. Less than a year later, the Nazi’s occupied the city, leaving Django in a potentially compromising position. Amazingly and despite close monitoring from the Nazi censorship board, Django not only escaped persecution, but also prospered in his capacity as a popular entertainer. Astonishingly, (and somewhat ironically) the Nazi’s also enjoyed his increasingly popular music.
“Improvisation” – Django Reinhardt.
Nevertheless the uncertainly of being a jazz-playing Romani with a handicap is further indication of Django’s defiance and fearlessness in the face of adversity. Even with a clarinet replacing the violin (Grappelli remained in the United Kingdom during the war), the music transcends cultures, from his own zesty Romani guitar playing, to swing-orientated African-American jazz and even elements of Jewish klezmer music. It was a cultural melting pot which the Nazi’s chose to overlook.
Bearing this context in mind, one can really sense the repressed emotion bursting from the record. Songs recorded prior or during the war have a great sense of elation, and almost exuberant relief. Nowhere more is this seen than in “Daphne”. To this day, this track is one of the defining moments of his astonishing career and a true measure of his emotions. The pace quickens throughout this up-lifting tune, with the guitar and violin practically dueling by the end. It sounds as if the Quintet would be content to keep on playing until the instruments were prized from their bleeding fingers.
The sound that Django Reinhardt developed in the 1930s has come to be synonymous with that era, engraining itself in the collective European consciousness. To this day, his music seems uncannily familiar, blending influences from Eastern and Western Europe to define a genre and father a new age in the history of jazz.
Illustration by François Lehérissier.
