PAUL
VERNON CHESTER
Manouche Maestro
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Manouche Maestro |
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'Dango's Music' - The 1940 Big Band The formation of Django Reinhardt "Django's Music" recorded in Paris March 22, 1940 Philippe Brun , Alex Renard (tp) ; Alix Combelle (cl, ts) ; Charlie Lewis (p) ; Django Reinhardt , Pierre "Baro" Ferret (g) ; Eugène Soudieux (b). With: Philip Brown, Alex Fox (tp); Alix Combelle (cl, ts), Charlie Lewis (p), Django Reinhardt, Pierre "Baro" Ferret (g); Eugene Soudieux (b). 15 Strong - Grande Orchestre Swing Django himself, increasingly absorbed by questions of orchestration was dabbling with the big band formula. He put together a group called “Django’s Music” whose repertoire consisted entirely of arrangements he had dictated himself on the guitar. Django’s aspirations as a symphonic composer were never fully realised. His Mass was never finished. However, some of his arrangements from this period (for example, Stockholm, Nymphéas, Féérie) retain a curious impressionistic atmosphere which crosses the border between Jazz and non-jazz, prefiguring his later Rhythmes Futurs. Others are more fully in tune with the idiom of the Swing Era, such as the haunting Artillerie Lourde whose riffs are close to those of Tuxedo Junction and whose title is a lugubrious evocation of that month of November 1944.
Philippe Brun
(trumpet)
While the big band was a happy departure, Django Reinhardt needed a regular combo to play jobs in wartime France. There was no point trying to replace Stephane Grappelli with another violinist since Grappelli was the top European violinist, so Reinhardt instead utilized Hubert Rostaing, a technically skilled and advanced clarinettist who also doubled on tenor sax. Rostaing would play with Django on and off through to 1948. And instead of having three guitars as before, Reinhardt cut back to two (using his brother Joseph Reinhardt) and added drummer Pierre Fouad. At first the group was also known as the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Its debut, Rhythm futur, is a piece that lives up to its futuristic name, at least harmonically. It is clear from the start that Rostaing’s impressive technique and sound (sometimes hinting at Artie Shaw) works well with the guitarist. The session also includes the minor-toned Blues. The same group with a change in bassists and several guest appearances by Alix Combelle on clarinet and tenor, recorded thirteen selections on 13 and 17 December 1940. Combelle, who had sounded quite impressive on a famous 1937 four-saxophone date with Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter and Andre Ekyan, was an underrated clarinettist and a tenor with a big tone influenced by Hawkins. Swing 41 really benefits from the inclusion of the two clarinets who blend together very well. The clarinets take a mysterious introduction to a remake of Reinhardt’s most famous original, the haunting ballad Nuages. Probably to avoid being noticed by the Nazis, most of the standards played by the Quintet during the war years were issued under their French titles, with the exception of Sweet Sue and All Of Me. Exactly Like You (“Pour vous”) has Combelle’s last appearance on the 13 December set, showing off his tenor playing along with Rostaing’s clarinet. The classical melody Fantaisie sur une danse norvégienne is turned into a delightful exercise in swing by the Quintet with Django showing once again in his chordal solo that he had no competitors among guitarists of the era (other than Charlie Christian). Vendredi 13 may have been recorded on Friday the 13th but the musical luck was very good that day; Combelle helps out by ringing some bells during this exotic piece. Another classical melody, Liebesfreud, is full of exuberant joy. The lesser-known Reinhardt–Grappelli piece Mabel (previously recorded on 14 December 1937) has a very advanced and tricky chord structure that challenges the musicians to create fresh melodic ideas. Little White Lies (retitled “Petits mensonges”) has an additional theme added by the Quintet (heard during the guitar solo) that makes this version sound fresh and quite different than usual. On the traditional Dark Eyes (or “Les yeux noirs”) and Sweet Sue, Just You, Reinhardt really cooks, played heated single-note lines during his spots. Alix Combelle returns for the three selections recorded on 17 December. Swing de Paris is a medium-tempo blues given its personality due to some key changes, unusual transitions and the use of the two clarinets. Oiseaux des îles is a musical train ride while a more conventional All Of Me has fine solos from all of the principals. This release concludes with two numbers from a slightly different version of the Django Reinhardt Big Band (‘Django’s Music’), one with a full saxophone section and drums. Reinhardt and Rostaing have spots on Stockholm while Festival Swing is similar to a performance by the Metronome All Stars in that it features many top musicians in a brief period of time. There is a chorus apiece on the medium-tempo blues from ten of the twelve horns, bassist Tony Rovira and drummer Pierre Fouad (each of whom are announced) plus two choruses by the great Django. Life may have been increasingly grim for Django Reinhardt under the Nazi rule but one cannot tell that from these infectious and innovative performances, many of which were formerly rare. - Scott Yanow Django, too well-known to be seriously at risk, had never needed to compromise with the Occupation Authorities in order to keep working. But now he, too, was beginning to feel the pressure. The music he had written for an avant-garde production of Andromaque had earned him the condemnation of the collaborationist press and threats of violence from the dreaded Milice. Pressure of another kind was coming from the Germans who were becoming insistent in their demands that the Quintet should appear in the Reich itself. Django felt it would be prudent to leave Paris; he made two attempts to get into neutral Switzerland but was turned back both times at the Border by the Swiss sueing “neither Black nor Jewish” Then began a period of wandering the length and breadth of France, sometimes with the Quintet, sometimes on the roads with his nomadic “cousins”, and once even returning to Paris to open his own club “La Roulotte” (not far from the place where his son Babik was born”).
March 22, 1940 ~ Paris Says Duke Ellington: "Django is all artist. Jazz isn't exactly the word for it. Jazz was that raggedy music they used to play about 1920. Nowadays, jazz must be classified according to who's playing it. I call Reinhardt's playing Django Music. He's one of those musicians who is unable to play a note that's not pretty or not in good taste. Sure he's a great virtuoso." |
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ATC
Band
But
with the outbreak of World War II and Django’s decision to return to the
European continent, he had to start all over.
Reinhardt's
interim sides during the war still deserve some attention. 