Django Reinhardt - Djangology [10 CDs] (2005)

Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe – and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil. His harmonic concepts were startling for their time – making a direct impression upon Charlie Christian and Les Paul, among others – and he was an energizing rhythm guitarist behind Grappelli, pushing their groups into a higher gear. Not only did Reinhardt put his stamp upon jazz, his string band music also had an impact upon the parallel development of Western swing, which eventually fed into the wellspring of what is now called country music. Although he could not read music, with Grappelli and on his own, Reinhardt composed several winsome, highly original tunes like "Daphne," "Nuages" and "Manoir de Mes Reves," as well as mad swingers like "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the '30s, "Stomping at Decca." As the late Ralph Gleason said about Django's recordings, "They were European and they were French and they were still jazz."

A violinist first and a guitarist later, Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style. According to one story, during his recovery period, Reinhardt was introduced to American jazz when he found a 78 RPM disc of Louis Armstrong's "Dallas Blues" at an Orleans flea market. He then resumed his career playing in Parisian cafes until one day in 1934 when Hot Club chief Pierre Nourry proposed the idea of an all-string band to Reinhardt and Grappelli. Thus was born the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which quickly became an international draw thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca and HMV recordings.

The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years, he led a big band, another quintet with clarinetist Hubert Rostaing in place of Grappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazzmen as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko and Ray McKinley. In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with the Duke Ellington band but his appearances were poorly received. Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in Jan. 1946, Reinhardt and Grappelli held several sporadic reunions where the bop influences are more subtly integrated into the old, still-fizzing swing format. In the 1950s, Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording now and then until his death from a stroke in 1953. His Hot Club recordings from the `30s are his most irresistible legacy; their spirit and sound can be felt in current groups like Holland's Rosenberg Trio. (allmusic)

Tracklist:

01. Exactly Like You
02. Charleston
03. You're Driving Me Crazy
04. Tears
05. Solitude
06. Hot Lips
07. Ain't Misbehavin
08. Rose Room
09. Body And Soul
10. When Day Is Done
11. Runnin' Wild
12. Chicago
13. Liebestraum No. 3
14. Miss Annabelle Lee
15. A Little Love, A Little Kiss
16. Mysteric Pacific
17. In A Sentimental Mood
18. Sheik Of Araby
19. Improvisation
20. Parfum
21. Pennies From Heaven
22. Tiger Rag
23. Whoa Baby
24. P.B. Flat Blues
25. Saint - Louis Blues
26. Bouncing Around
27. Minor Swing
28. Viper's Dream
29. Swinging With Django
30. Paramount Stomp
31. Bolero
32. Mabel
33. My Serenade
34. Serenade For A Wealthy Widow
35. Taj Mahal
36. Organ Grinder's Swing
37. You Rascal, You
38. Tea For Two
39. Christmas Swing
40. Sweet Georgia Brown
41. Tea For Two
42. Blues
43. Easy Going
44. College Stomp
45. Harlem Swing
46. It Had To Be You
47. Sweet Sue, Just You
48. Honesuckle Rose
49. Sweet Georgia Brown
50. Night And Day
51. My Sweet
52. Souvenis
53. Daphne
54. Black And White
55. Stompin' At Decca
56. Un Sourire En Chantant
57. Sifflez En Traillant
58. Bouncin' Around
59. Ridin' Along The Moscowa
60. Gotta Date In Louisiana
61. Gabriel's Song
62. Doin' The New Low Down
63. Body And Soul
64. Lover Come Back To Me
65. My Melancholy Baby
66. I Got Rhythm
67. Billets Doux
68. Swing From Paris
69. Them There Eyes
70. Three Little Words
71. Appel Direct
72. Flat Foot Floogie
73. Lambeth Walk
74. Why Should I Care?
75. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
76. Please Be Kind
77. Louise
78. Improvisation No. 2
79. Hungaria
80. Jeepers Creepers
81. Swing 39
82. Japanese Sandman
83. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight?
84. Tea For Two
85. My Melancholy Baby
86. Time On My Hands
87. Twelfth Year
88. Montmartre
89. Low Cotton
90. Finese
91. I Know That You Know
92. Solid Old Man
93. My Melancholy Baby
94. Japanese Sandman
95. Tea For Two
96. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight?
97. Hungaria
98. Sheik Of Araby
99. Dream Ship
100. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
101. Darktown Strutter's Ball
102. Blues Of Yesterday
103. Stockholm
104. Younger Generation
105. I'll See You In My Dreams
106. Echoes Of Spain
107. Naguine
108. Undecided
109. H.C.Q. Strut
110. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
111. Man I Love
112. Boogie Woogie - Part 1
113. Boogie Woogie - Part 2
114. Blue Skies
115. Stomp
116. Rosetta
117. Sugar
118. A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody
119. Margie
120. Tears
121. Limehouse Blues
122. Daphne
123. At The Jimmy's Bar
124. Nuages
125. Rhythme Futur
126. Begin The Beguine
127. Blues
128. Coucou
129. Indecision
130. Serenade D'hiver
131. Le Sheik
132. Noel Blues
133. Margie
134. Bijou
135. Indecision
136. Oui, Cest Ca
137. Swing 41
138. Nuages
139. Pour Vous
140. Fantaisie Sur Une Danse Norvegienne
141. Vendredi 13
142. Liebesfreud
143. Mabel
144. Petits Mensonges
145. Les Yeux Noirs
146. Sweet Sue
147. Swing De Paris
148. Oiseaux Des Iles
149. All Of Me
150. Pour Terminer
151. Pour Commencer
152. Les Yeux Noirs
153. Begin The Beguine
154. Swingin' The Blues
155. Petite Lili
156. Ninouche
157. Festival Swing
158. Stockholm
159. Cigale Et La Fourmi
160. Hungaria
161. De Nulle Part
162. Dinete
163. Crepuscule
164. Swing 42
165. Festival Swing 42
166. Premiere De Idee E'eddie
167. Nympheas
168. Feerie
169. Belleville
170. Lentement, Mademoiselle
171. Vous Et Moi
172. Distraction
173. Blues En Mineur
174. Studio 24
175. Place De Brouckere
176. Seul Ce Soir
177. Mixture
178. Bei Dir War Es Immer So Schon
179. Divine Beguine
180. Nuages
181. Djangology
182. Eclats De Cuivres
183. Django Rag
184. Dynamisme
185. Tons D' Ebene
186. Chez Moi A Six Heures
187. Douce Ambiance
188. Manoir De Mes Reves
189. Oui
190. Cavalerie
191. Fleur D'ennui
192. Blues Clair
193. Improvisation No 3 - Part 1
194. Improvisation No 3 - Part 2
195. Belleville
196. Oubli
197. Zuiderzee Blues
198. Abc
199. Melodie Au Crepuscule
200. Gaiement