The term ‘Gypsy’ is now often thought of as a derogatory term but at the time was embraced by members of the travelling culture such as Django himself.
The Selmer guitar, alongside a poster of Django Reinhardt, is starting to give my room a bit of a French touch. A Selmer guitar is similar but different to an Acoustic guitar; a long and thin moustache-like bridge distinguishes it as a French instrument. As for Django Reinhardt, he is the man who made these guitars famous through the unique style of fast-paced upbeat acoustic jazz he pioneered; ‘Gypsy Guitar Genius’, the poster reads.
Django was indeed a Gypsy, born into a Romani family in 1910. By the age of 18, he was already married and playing the banjo for a living. But, returning home from a concert late one night, tragedy struck. Knocking over a candle in his caravan, Django started the fire that would leave him crippled. Along with the paralysis of one leg and first or second degree burns over much of his body, his most significant injury was the paralysis of his fourth and fifth fingers on his left hand – doctors told him he would never play guitar again.
Despite this obvious setback, Django went on to relearn the guitar in a two-fingered style that has become his trademark. His ability to play complex high-speed solos without the use of his last two digits is nothing short of miraculous and has helped to define a musical genre; many of the chords used in jazz guitar today were invented by Django to suit his unique style of play.
Teaming up with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Django formed the ‘Quintet du Hot Club de France’ and went on to receive great success across Europe. He wrote songs such as ‘Minor Swing’ and ‘Nuages’ that are now considered Jazz standards. However, Django never quite conquered America. Despite playing alongside Jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, his Quintet was never received with as much success by audiences or critics across the Atlantic. In a way, this has helped define ‘Jazz Manouche’ (Gypsy Jazz), as it became known, as perhaps the only distinctly European genre of Jazz.
In hindsight, the Americans have now accepted Django’s genius; there is a strong Gypsy Jazz presence in the US to this day and the “Django Reinhardt New York City Festival” is even held annually. Foremost among the contemporary Gypsy Jazz Scene are the Rosenberg Trio and Biréli Lagrène, who strive to capture Django’s magic even with all five fingers at their dispense.
The significance of Django Reinhardt is not just that he was the first prominent European Jazz musician. Django overcame all the setbacks thrown at him: as an impoverished, unemployed nomad, he achieved fame and riches through his passion for music; out of the ashes of that crippling fire was born a perseverance to see his talent realised. Perseverance, determination, optimism. The qualities possessed by Django Reinhardt are relevant to us all.
Prentice Everett
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