Django Reinhardt was born in Belgium around 1910, and later moved to France, where he lived in a Gypsy (Romani) Caravan outside of Paris. He already played banjo, guitar etc., and was about to join a band with his brother. This was around 1928.
However fate had something else in store for him. In November of 1928 he almost died. He knocked over a candle and the wagon in which he lived with his wife was engulfed in flames. There was a tremendous amount of celluloid, used by his wife to make artificial flowers, the result burning over half of his body, including his left arm and right leg. He refused the amputation of the leg, and walked with a cane for the rest of his life. He was hospitalized for 18 months.
But it was the injury to his left hand which was the worst part, while at the same time the very thing that made him the great guitarist he became. The fourth and fifth fingers of that hand were severely burned and he was told that he would never play guitar again.
Music was such an integral part of his life that he went on and taught himself to play with the index and middle fingers of his left hand, using the two injured fingers only for chords. Those injured fingers were what gave him his unique sound, resulting in those rapid runs up and down the fret board. He used a six-string steel strung acoustic guitar.
By 1929 he had and his wife had a son, but they soon split up. However, the son, Lousson Baumgartner, eventually became an accomplished player and even recorded with his father.
He was introduced to American jazz by an acquaintance, Emile Savitry. They were both influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, and Lonnie Johnson. But it was the swinging sound of Venuti's jazz violin and Eddie Lang's guitar-playing which gave birth to Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli's unique sound. Together they would form the Hot Club and alter the course of music. Grappelli was even featured on Paul Simon's "Hobo Blues" in the early 1970's.
This song is the short version from a film about jazz, which can be found on You Tube and I highly recommend it. It takes you from the original classical recording of a classical recording to the following jazz-swing version of the song. For the sake of brevity I am posting only the portion of that video with Django and Grappelli with the Hot Club. I hope you enjoy it.
But it was the injury to his left hand which was the worst part, while at the same time the very thing that made him the great guitarist he became. The fourth and fifth fingers of that hand were severely burned and he was told that he would never play guitar again.
Music was such an integral part of his life that he went on and taught himself to play with the index and middle fingers of his left hand, using the two injured fingers only for chords. Those injured fingers were what gave him his unique sound, resulting in those rapid runs up and down the fret board. He used a six-string steel strung acoustic guitar.
By 1929 he had and his wife had a son, but they soon split up. However, the son, Lousson Baumgartner, eventually became an accomplished player and even recorded with his father.
He was introduced to American jazz by an acquaintance, Emile Savitry. They were both influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, and Lonnie Johnson. But it was the swinging sound of Venuti's jazz violin and Eddie Lang's guitar-playing which gave birth to Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli's unique sound. Together they would form the Hot Club and alter the course of music. Grappelli was even featured on Paul Simon's "Hobo Blues" in the early 1970's.
This song is the short version from a film about jazz, which can be found on You Tube and I highly recommend it. It takes you from the original classical recording of a classical recording to the following jazz-swing version of the song. For the sake of brevity I am posting only the portion of that video with Django and Grappelli with the Hot Club. I hope you enjoy it.
