Django Reinhardt
 Django Reinhardt has astounded and thrilled numerous generations of
guitar players and jazz lovers with his amazing command of the guitar.
January 24th, 1910 at Liberchies Belgium, Django was born into the open
air, rambling lifestyle of his gypsy parents. At the age of eight, his
mother's tribe settled near the belt of fortifications that surrounded
the old Paris, near the Choisy gate. He never wore a suit or lived in a
real house until he was twenty years old. These French Gypsies or
Manouches were a world unto themselves, medieval in their beliefs, and
distrustful of modern science. Django grew up in this world of
contradictions, one foot in the bustling big city of Paris and the
other in the age-old life of the nomadic gypsy. Though born into
poverty Django had the soul of a nobleman and this natural elegance of
bearing and attitude expressed itself in his music.
It was at an early age Django became attracted to music. When twelve
years old he received his first instrument, a banjo/guitar that was
given to him by a neighbor who had noticed his keen interest in music.
He quickly learned to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he
watched. He was soon astounding adults with his ability on the guitar,
and before he was thirteen he began his musical career playing with
popular accordionist Guerino at a dance hall on the Rue Monge. He went
on to play with numerous other bands and musicians and made his first
recordings with accordionist Jean Vaissade for the Ideal Company. Since
Django could not read or write at the time "Jiango Renard" was how his
name appeared on these records.
On November 2nd, 1928 an event took place that would forever
change Django's life. At one o'clock in the morning the 18 year old
Django returned from a night of playing music at a new club "La Java"
to the caravan that was now the home of himself and his new wife. The
caravan was filled with celluloid flowers his wife had made to sell at
the market on the following day. Django upon hearing what he thought
was a mouse among the flowers bent down with a candle to look. The wick
from the candle fell into the highly flammable celluloid flowers and
the caravan was almost instantly transformed into a raging inferno.
Django wrapped himself in a blanket to shield him from the flames.
Somehow he and his wife made it across the blazing room to safety
outside, but his left hand, and his right side from knee to waist were
badly burned.
Initially doctors wanted to amputate his leg but Django
refused. He was moved to a nursing home where the care was so good his
leg was saved. Django was bedridden for eighteen months. During this
time he was given a guitar, and with great determination Django created
a whole new fingering system built around the two fingers on his left
hand that had full mobility. His fourth and fifth digits of the left
hand were permanently curled towards the palm due to the tendons
shrinking from the heat of the fire. He could use them on the first two
strings of the guitar for chords and octaves but complete extension of
these fingers was impossible. His soloing was all done with the index
and middle fingers! Film clips of Django show his technique to be
graceful and precise, almost defying belief.
Django was influenced by jazz recordings of Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
This new music found a place deep in Django's heart. It provided the
perfect vehicle for his prodigious talent for improvisation. Django
rarely if ever played a solo the same way twice. Numerous recordings
prove this to be true. His creative genius was not only that of the
master improviser, but also that of the composer, and he can be
credited with numerous pieces with beautiful melodies and
sophisticated, subtle harmonic structures. However, Django could not
read or write musical notation and he was at the mercy of others that
could to get his ideas down on paper.
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