Django Reinhardt

[Oldslowhand]

Just how did this guy manage to play so brilliantly with just two fingers !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6nkHJQnEPs

Graham

[tot_Ou_tard]

Django is one of my favorites. I have this set (as well as a bunch of other Mosiac sets):

http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=190-MD-CD

I haven't gooten a Mosaic set in many years, but there was a time that a set was on my wish list every birthday or Christmas.


Take a listen to the modern French Djangoista Sanseverino. Trust me, his lyrics are great too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnrjJ0_ikTU


This is not Sanseverino's best performance, but it gives you the idea.

[Oldslowhand]

Sadly the lyrics are lost on me as I can only speak English, but I love the "Hot club" vibe. I've got an compilation CD of Django's career with most of the classic tracks associated with him. Must go and dig it out as I haven't listened to it for a while, always rewarding and the interplay between him & Stephane Grappelli always inspires.
Graham

[marnold]

I made a similar comment a little while ago http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=2791 His playing throws all of those "My hands are too small/big/fat/etc." arguments out the window.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Sadly the lyrics are lost on me as I can only speak English, but I love the "Hot club" vibe. I've got an compilation CD of Django's career with most of the classic tracks associated with him. Must go and dig it out as I haven't listened to it for a while, always rewarding and the interplay between him & Stephane Grappelli always inspires.
Graham

Sanseverino's lyrics are even better than his guitar plying. Very witty, with twist and turns that dig around in meaningful, yet playfully hip territory.
Very natural. I really like this guy. He delivers those lyrics at high speed. If you can understand his singing, you know that you understand French.

Here's a great CD suggestion for those with Django tendencies.

Bireli Lagrene's first album.

Routes to Django--Live at the Krokodil.

The Bereli Lagrene Ensemble.

It's the first CD listed on this discography:

http://www.lagrene.com/discography.htm

He was all of 13 or 14 years old. Buy it! You won't be disappointed.

[R_of_G]

Anyone who has read some of my other posts know I can't go very long without mentioning Django. He is, in my opinion, the single-greatest player ever. I still can't believe that most of that tone was achieved with a mic'd acoustic. Between he and Charlie Christian, the sound of electric guitar had to happen. Whenever I discuss Django with others, eventually someone gets to "well, he's great, but c'mon, the best ever?" Ineveitably I ask who they think should get that nod. Mostly I hear Jimi or Duane Allman or Clapton or some other version of someone I love but not Django, and everytime I ask them "uh huh, and how many fingers did jimi have again?" Jimi is an easy number two on my list, but lets get a wayback machine and burn two of his fingers together into an unworkable claw and see how he does.