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Reinhardt Django 1910 - 1953 (43)

jazz guitarist and composer


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Django Reinhardt (1910 -1953) was a pioneering Belgian jazz guitarist and composer who stood out for his technique and skill. He was born on January 23, 1910 in Liberchies, a small town in eastern Belgium, to gypsy parents. He spent most of his childhood in Roma camps near Paris, playing banjo, guitar and violin. From the age of 13, he was able to make a living with music.

At the age of 18 he was injured by a fire in the caravan where he was staying with his first wife, suffering 1st and 2nd degree burns on many parts of his body, while the third and fourth fingers of his left hand were partially paralyzed. He continued to play music in a new way, using the two injured fingers only to perform chords. After 1930 he left the banjo and focused on the guitar and formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli in Paris. They soon became famous and recorded songs that became hits in Europe and America.

The outbreak of World War II found them touring England. Grappelli remained in England, Django returned to France to continue recording throughout the war. Because of his fame and talent, he managed to avoid being captured - as a gypsy - by the Nazis during the years of German occupation. In 1946 he toured briefly with Duke Ellington in the United States, returned to France and in 1949 recorded one of his most important albums, Djangology. In 1951, he retired to the village of Samois-sur-Seine, near Fontainebleau. He continued to record and appear in jazz clubs in Paris, while he also started playing the electric guitar. He died suddenly on May 16, 1953 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Among his most popular compositions which are considered classic pieces of jazz music, are "Minor Swing", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", "Nuages".