Django

The last years of his life marks a total renewal of the music of Django Reinhardt. The reopening of the Club Saint Germain, in February 1951, and the rapprochement with the new wave of French jazz (saxophonist Hubert Fol head) inaugurate a new creative period in the career of guitarist, rich in metamorphoses. A personal journey continued for several years, including the revolution bebop, combined with the talent of a new generation of musicians (pianists Raymond Fol, Maurice Vander, Martial Solal, bassist Pierre Michelot…), leads to a flamboyant work. New sounds marked by the opulence of the electric guitar. New melodies (Nights of Saint-Germain des Pres, Golden Arrow, Anouman…) and new (s) form (s) Instrumental (s), responding to the canons of modern jazz.Bringing together all the studio sessions and live recordings known this period, fully remastered, this 3CD box set offers the ultimate fulfillment of the route of the great Gypsy.

Over the course of their extraordinarily accomplished discography to date, Django Django have constantly headed left where others have gone right. Described by The Guardian as “capable of making music that sounds close to perfection”, they are known for their genre defying eclectic sound and their new album Glowing in the Dark heralds, once again, the beginning of a thrilling new era for the band.

This volume of the Classics Django Reinhardt chronology was expressly dedicated by the producers to the memory of Philippe Brun, a fine and forceful trumpeter whose primary inspiration was Louis Armstrong. Brun, who passed away in 1994, seems to have recorded regularly with Django and company. In addition to a fascinating version of Larry Clinton's "Whoa Babe" - made famous among jazz fans after Lionel Hampton recorded it with Johnny Hodges and Cootie Williams in April 1937 - Brun's two essays on the blues are honest and subtle, while his "College Stomp" is a fine example of Parisian big-band swing…

This five-disc box collects Reinhardt's first 124 recordings between 1934-1939. Curiously enough, these sides aren't chronological. Rather, while each disc's featured sessions are presented mostly chronologically, the discs themselves are rather awkwardly sequenced, with different discs covering different years in a seemingly random order. That doesn't really detract from the set's appeal, however, as this music is terrific no matter how it's presented. If there is a flaw, it's that the remastering isn't nearly as superb as the fawning front-cover quotation would lead one to believe. To his credit, however, Kendall admits that he has attempted no "enhancement" of the sound, but has instead concentrated on clearing away much of the audio rubble. His work is, in fact, generally excellent - especially on the later sides, many of which are virtually devoid of hiss…