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Django In Rome, 1949 / 1950 (Disc C)

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Django Reinhardt

 
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Django In Rome, 1949 / 1950 (Disc C)

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Avg: 4.0 (2 ratings)

Gypsy jazz's greatest musician at his warmest.

  • We Say...

    Review by Alex Abramovich

    To call Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt the greatest European jazz musician is to do a disservice to his music (which transcended national boundaries), his playing (which helped turn the guitar into a lead instrument) and his influence (on Charlie Christian, Les Paul and B.B. King, among truly countless other greats). As his sometime accompanist Duke Ellington might have put it, Reinhardt was beyond category and beyond compare.

    The guitarist overcame every obstacle to secure a place in the canon: Born in Belgium in 1910, Reinhardt was raised in a gypsy camp on the outskirts of Paris; he never learned to read or write. While still in his teens, Reinhardt survived a fire, which limited his use of his fretting hand to the thumb, index and middle fingers. And yet he was the most lyrical of guitarists, and on his greatest recordings — with Stephane Grappelli and the incomparable Hot Club quintet — his playing was as effortless as it was inventive. Made just a few years before Reinhardt's death at the age of 43, these recordings mark the last of Reinhardt and Grapelli's many collaborations.

    While stark, romantic shadings threaten to overwhelm Reinhardt and Grappelli's versions of "Stormy Weather," "Manoir De Mes Reves" and "The Man I Love" on this disc, the Cuban-flavored "Peanut Vendor" — which cribs heavily from Louis Armstrong's 1930 recording — is one of their most joyous collaborations. Still, the partnership was been coming to an end: Bebop had been hard on Reinhardt; a Stateside tour with Duke Ellington didn't quite live up to its promise. He'd retire in 1951 and die two years later. This set of recordings is his epitaph.

  • They Say...

    Review by Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

    The postwar recording sessions included in this budget-priced boxed set are the last ones Django Reinhardt made with violinist Stephane Grappelli. The remaining original members of his acclaimed Quintette du Hot Club de France had departed already, and on the first three of these four discs the guitarist and violinist are accompanied by a trio of Italian musicians: pianist Gianni Safred, bassist Carlo Pecori, and drummer Aurelio de Carolis. (The recordings on the fourth disc, which date from 1950, are credited to the Quintette du Hot Club de France, but by that point Grappelli had been replaced by alto saxophonist and clarinetist Andre Ekyan and the remaining three musicians comprised a standard piano trio -- an instrumental configuration far removed from that of the original quintet.) The resulting sound is an interesting blend of Reinhardt's Parisian gypsy jazz and the more mainstream small-ensemble jazz sound that was popular both in Europe and the United States at the time. Reinhardt and Grappelli are both in excellent form, and their accompanists more than carry their own weight on such familiar fare as "Minor Swing," "How High the Moon," and "Swing '39"; there are also several fun adaptations of classical melodies, such as "Tchaikovsky's Starry Night" and "Grieg's Norwegian Dance." Grappelli is missed on the final disc, but overall this set provides a fascinating overview of Reinhardt's work at a pivotal point in his career. The JSP label's packaging continues the company's admirable tradition of paying loving attention to detail (full credits, new and extensive notes) without imposing expensive frills on the package. Recommended.

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