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Joan Records

DJANGO REINHARDT PORTRAIT Sabam CRESCENDO Blue Classic Line – 7272

 

 

 

Joan Records

 

1	Improvisation No. 3 Pt.1	12	Blues
2	Coquette	13	Blue Lou
3	Django’s Tiger	14	Swing From Paris
4	Embraceable You	15	Lambeth Walk
5	Love’s Melody	16	Echoes Of Spain
6	Nuages	17	Undecided
7	What Is This Thing Called Love	18	H.C.Q Strut
8	Ol’ Man River	19	Swing 41
9	R-Vingt Six	20	Blues En Mineur
10	How High The Moon	21	Studio 24
11	Lover Man	22	Blues En Clair

Because 2003 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Django Reinhardt I feel sure that this ‘Portrait’ issue will be met with great interest.

Reinhardt’s association with the violinist Stephane Grappelli as members of the immensely popular Quintette du Hot Club de France ran initially between 1934 and 1939. There was a short reunion after the war in the 1940s. This disc is a mixture of Django’s music from 1938-1947 – a large part of it featuring the Quintette. The accompanying musicians lay down straightforward and uncomplicated tempos. This enables Reinhardt and Grappelli to complement each other’s performance in timing, clever phrasing and those so admired long flowing passages.

Here we have an interesting diversification of titles from the Lambeth Walk to the beautiful Reinhardt composition Nuages. On Swing 41 the Quintette is joined by clarinetists Hubert Rostang and Alix Combelle and Undecided features vocalist Beryl Davis. According to the accompanying notes Reinhardt also plays violin on Blues En Mineur.

Over the last few years the interest in ‘gypsy jazz’ has gained tremendously and this CD will without doubt be a welcome issue.

Jack Ashby

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