Django Reinhardt turns 100 January 23

By: Heather Newman | Date: January 22, 2010
Django Reinhardt turns 100 January 23

Famed jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt would have been 100 on January 23, and Benjamin Givan, author of the new book The Music of Django Reinhardt, took some time out in honor of the anniversary to answer a few questions.

Givan authored a previous blog entry on Reinhardt, including a rundown of his enormous impact on everything from blues to rock 'n' roll and a video of him performing with frequent collaborator Stéphane Grappelli. Musicians ranging from B. B. King to Carlos Santana list Reinhardt as a major influence.

QUESTION: Why did you choose Reinhardt as a subject?

ANSWER: I chose Reinhardt as a subject because I had enjoyed listening to his music for a long time. I was aware that most of the previously published literature on Reinhardt consisted of either biographical studies geared toward the casual jazz fan or “how-to” books oriented toward people who want to learn how to play the music. And I thought that Reinhardt’s music deserved to be taken seriously at a more scholarly level in order to gain a more thorough, detailed understanding of what and how he played.

Q: What impact did his music have on the genre?

A: Many musicians, especially guitarists, have cited him as an influence. He did play an important role in establishing the guitar as a credible solo instrument in jazz. His virtuosic horn-like improvisations predated Charlie Christian’s and his use of doubled octaves and block chords foreshadowed Wes Montgomery’s. In the last couple of decades the so-called “gypsy jazz” style, which takes Reinhardt as its guiding inspiration, has gained an increasingly high profile.

Q: What made it so compelling for musicians?

A: Different musicians have probably been drawn to different aspects of his playing. Some have probably been impressed by his sheer instrumental virtuosity—his speed and facility on the guitar—although he’s hardly unique in that regard since there have been many guitarists with comparable, or even greater, technical agility. His harmonic language is quite sophisticated for its time, comparable to that of American swing-era soloists such as Coleman Hawkins, and during the 1930s its chromaticism was perhaps exceeded only by the work of pianists like Art Tatum and composers like Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and so forth. As an improviser, Reinhardt crafted solos that are fluent and cohesive yet also full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns.

Q: How did Reinhardt’s dramatic life story affect his music?

A: Like any artist, Reinhardt was a product of his environment; his music reflects the time and place in which he lived and the music he encountered. He played the guitar because it was a common instrument among early-twentieth-century Manouche gypsies. He played jazz because it was a popular music in Franc e during the interwar years. He had plenty of time to hone his craft because, lacking formal schooling, he had fewer commitments to compete with his musical interests early in life. And because he was only marginally literate and accustomed to a rather itinerant lifestyle, he had few better options in life than to pursue a career in music. Certainly, the severe accident he suffered in his late teens, which permanently disabled a couple of his left fingers, limited his musical technique, but not all that much and I doubt he would have played much differently if it had never occurred.

Suggestions for anniversary-related events and music links:

http://www.djangobirdland.com/
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=46539
http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=1465
http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=55834&mode=threaded&pid=975011