ENIGMATIC GYPSY KING DJANGO REINHARDT CONTINUES TO MYSTIFY, ASTONISH AND INSPIRE GUITARISTS – EVEN 70 YEARS AFTER HIS UNTIMELY PASSING. SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS HAVE FAITHFULLY AND TIRELESSLY KEPT HIS NAME, LEGACY AND EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC ALIVE TO THE EXTENT THAT, TODAY, THERE IS A GLOBAL SCENE DEDICATED TO THE ‘HOT CLUB’ STYLE THAT CONTINUES TO THRIVE SEEMINGLY INDEPENDENT OF CURRENT TRENDS, NO MORE SO THAN IN THE UK WHERE A NEW CREW OF DJANGOPHILES HAVE HAPPILY TAKEN THE MUSICAL BATON THAT DJANGO HIMSELF FORGED BACK IN THE MID-1930S. GUITARIST SPEAKS TO SIX YOUNG PURVEYORS OF ‘LA POMPE’ – ALEXBISHOP, CORNELIUS CORKERY, HARRY DIPLOCK, REMI HARRIS, LEWIS KILVINGTON AND CHRIS QUINN – ABOUT WHAT MAKES DJANGO’S GUITAR SO IMPORTANT, RELEVANT AND VITAL IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The story of Django Reinhardt’s life is as well known as it is legendary. Born in Belgium in 1910 to Manouche Romani parents who wintered there each year, his gadjo (non-Romani) name was Jean, but to everyone in Romani culture he was Django. Surrounded by music from birth, Django was a quick learner, a prodigy, and was playing professionally in Le Bal-Musette by his mid-teens.
The tragic accident that almost ended his life, let alone his career, is part of guitar folklore. At the age of just 18 he had returned to his caravan after a gig where his wife had prepared a batch of cellophane flowers to sell at market the next day. Django, having knocked a candle over, was confronted by a sudden inferno and suffered terrible burns over his entire left side as he fought to rescue his wife, and himself, from the flames. Many months rehabilitating in hospital eventually brought him back to health, but his left hand was left disfigured to the extent that the third and fourth fingers were drawn back, claw-like, into his palm. Here they remained for the rest of his life, unemployable for single lines, although he did eventually find a way to use them for doublestops when chording.
Left with just his first and second fingers for any lead lines, Django unwittingly created one of the great mysteries in guitar history. How did he do it? How was he able to play with such power, precision and speed with just two left-hand fingers? Besides, it wasn’t just overcoming the physical injury that proved Django to be a rare genius. At the beginning of the 1930s, Django had an epiphany as he discovered jazz, the music that would change the direction of his life and that of guitar history.
Django Meets Jazz
When Django heard trumpet titan Louis Armstrong for the first time he burst into tears saying “my brother” quietly to himself. Armstrong was the dominant force in jazz during the late 1920s and early 30s. Alongside his contemporaries he sounded a
