Who the Heck is Django Reinhardt ?
Django Reinhardt was a French Gypsy who "invented" a unique style of jazz called "Gypsy Swing".
His name is pronounced
."JANG-go .RINE-heart".
Born in poverty in a gypsy
wagon in Belgium in 1910, he died suddenly of a cerebral hemmorage in 1953,
in the prime of his life.
He is, possibly, the most famous guitarist who has ever lived.
Gypsy Swing music is a guitarists dream come true - there are usually three
guitars in a Gypsy Swing band and
there is a strong emphasis on difficult technique.
Django Reinhardt had a band in the 1930's called the "Quintet of the
Hot Club of France".
His brother and his cousin played rhythm guitars and he was the third guitarist,
the star soloist.
The violinist Stephane Grapelli was also in the band, making the violin a
uniquely essential
element in Gypsy Swing music.
Django Reinhardt
is famous as a guitarist because of his unbelievable technique.
He played faster than anyone had before, and he did it in a way that was very
musical.
The MOST amazing thing about his technique is that his left hand was severely
burned
when he was 18 and he only had the full use of two fingers, the index and
middle.
He could also use his thumb and the stumps of his ring finger and pinky.
His blazing technique would have been unbelievable for a person with normal
hands
but Django Reinhardt
did it with a serious injury to his left hand.
To this day, we still can't get over it.
Links to other Django Reinhardt
websites:
Wikipedia
.|.
Jazz
Bio