Hot Club Quintet of France
Hot Club Quintet of France
In encouragement of Pierre Nourry and Charles Delaunay, guitarist Django Reinhardt and the violinist Stéphane Grappelli founded 1934 the Hot Club Quintet of France in Paris. Next to Django and Stéphane, there were also Djangos brother Joseph "Nin Nin" Reinhardt as well as Roger Chaput respectively Pierre „Baro“ Ferret as guitarists and Louis Vola as bassist. The two rhythm gitarists had a harmonically and a percussive function at the same time. There was no need for a drummer.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Stéphane went to England and left the band behind.
Django found the clarinetist Hubert Rostaing and made many wonderful recordings with him.
Django made also some recordings with big bands.
You can find almost every recording, that was made by Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club Quintet of France, on YouTube.
There is one nice movie from 1939, where you can see the Hot Club Quintet of France playing "J'attendrai".
Watch the movie here
Django Reinhardt
Jean Baptiste Reinhardt
23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953
Jean "Django" Reinhardt was born 23 January 1910 in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, into a family of Manouche Romani descent.
Django was 5 years old, when they moved to Paris.
When he was 12 years old, he played the banjo. Together with his father, they made gigs in the town and could make a living from making music.
The year 1928 was a very tough one for Django.
He was 18 years old, when he had a blaze in his caravan.
His right leg was paralysed and his left hand was burned very strong. His whole body had burns. The doctors wanted to amputate his left leg, but Reinhardt recovered from the injuries. During the next two years, while the rehabilitation, Django invented a virtuosic technique to play the guitar with just his index and middle fingers. For playing chords, he added sometimes the severely limited ringfinger and pinkie. But he could add his thumb to grab the chords.
During the Second World War, life wasn't always easy for a gypsy.
One day, he wanted to escape to Switzerland, but the swiss government refused him and sent him back to France.
After the war, he went to America, to play with Jazz greats as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
Due to Djangos inability, to be a serious man about being on time at the gig, he got no more invitations from the concert organisers.
Django and Duke Ellington
In spite of everything, Django never lost his humour, what you can hear in his happy playing of his guitar.
In his last years, he lived in Samois sur Seine, 50 miles south of Paris. He loved to go fishing all the day long and enjoyied his life.
While walking from the Avon railway station after playing in a Paris club he collapsed outside his house from a brain hemorrhage. It was a Saturday and it took a full day for a doctor to arrive, and Reinhardt was declared dead on arrival at the hospital in Fontainebleau at the age of 43.
Django was an exceptional case. He was almost illiterate. He could
read, but not write, because he missed school. He prefered to stray
around with other kids in the neighbourhoods.
He had no clue about music theory, but he felt the music. He followed the melodies, which felt right.
He had no clue about music theory, but he felt the music. He followed the melodies, which felt right.
Dear Django, thanks a lot for your great music!
Django with his Selmer-Maccaferri guitar
