Djangology

The phenomenal guitarist Bireli Lagrene is joined by the WDR Big Band for a concert that is mostly a salute to Django Reinhardt, with a few modern twists added. First of all, Lagrene plays electric guitar. (Reinhardt played some electric guitar late in his career, though he is best known as an acoustic guitarist.) He also adds a vocal to a warm version of "The Shadow of Your Smile" (written over a decade after Reinhardt's death), while the opener, "Place du Tertre," is an explosive bop original by Lagrene that finds him getting a bit too coy cramming in a number of quotes ("Laura," "As Time Goes By," and even "Pop Goes the Weasel"). But Lagrene is at his very best…

Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe – and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil…

“I grew up in the jazz Manouche circles, which are dominated by swarms of guitarists – it’s not always easy to fit in as a singer! Most of the music has no lyrics, and the melodies are often too guitaristique to be sung. The microcosm fascinated me and I too wanted to participate in the Django repertoire… I saw only one option: I had to write my own lyrics, tell my own stories, reinvent his music in my own image.”

“I grew up in the jazz Manouche circles, which are dominated by swarms of guitarists – it’s not always easy to fit in as a singer! Most of the music has no lyrics, and the melodies are often too guitaristique to be sung. The microcosm fascinated me and I too wanted to participate in the Django repertoire… I saw only one option: I had to write my own lyrics, tell my own stories, reinvent his music in my own image.”

The compilation of Django tunes - 24 in total, including "Minor Swing", "Nuages", and his works with singers.
Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe - and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread…

Django Reinhardt - Intégrale - La Collection Complète (1928-1953) {20 vols - 40CD - Fremeaux & Associes rel 1996-2005}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 8.28 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 1.32 Gb | 5% repair rar
© 1928-1953, 1996-2005 Frémeaux & Associés | FA 301 ~ FA 323
Jazz / Continental Jazz / Swing / Gypsy / Guitar

Set of Fremeaux’s definitive Integrale Django Reinhardt collection. Mastered by Daniel Nevers, there are 20 volumes of these, and each volume has 2 CDs – 40 CDs total. Each volume also comes with a fairly thick booklet with discography and notes. And the booklets and inserts have very nice B&W pictures of Django. Une réédition d’exception ! Depuis quelques années maintenant, les éditions Frémeaux ont entrepris la publication d’une intégrale des enregistrements de Django Reinhardt.