|
1
|
Limehouse
Blues
|
11
|
Exactly
Like You
|
|
2
|
I
Can’t Give You Anything But Love
|
12
|
Charleston
|
|
3
|
Oriental
Shuffle
|
13
|
You’re
Driving Me Crazy
|
|
4
|
After
You’ve Gone
|
14
|
Tears
|
|
5
|
Are
You In The Mood
|
15
|
Solitude
|
|
6
|
Shine
|
16
|
Hot
Lips
|
|
7
|
Georgia
On My Mind
|
17
|
Ain’t
Misbehavin’
|
|
8
|
Swing
Guitars
|
18
|
Rose
Room
|
|
9
|
Sweet
Chorus
|
19
|
Body
and Soul
|
|
10
|
Nagasaki
|
20
|
When
Day Is Done
|
Here
Naxos presents another ‘Jazz Legends’
disc in its series aimed at highlighting
the greatest recordings in the history
of music. It is the third volume dedicated
to ‘swing guitars’ and covers the career
of Django Reinhardt and the Quintette
du Hot Club De France between May, 1936
and April 1937.
The
nucleus of Django, guitar and Stephane
Grappelli, violin is supported by a
variety of musicians including Django’s
brother Joseph. American vocalist Freddy
Taylor appears on five tracks. Considering
the proliferation of new material available
today coupled with the mass of reissues
and ‘compilation’ discs being produced
it is small wonder that we hear little
of this once internationally acclaimed
group and their now acclaimed classic
jazz. The music featured here spans
many of the tunes of the day such as
the opener ‘Limehouse Blues’ that highlights
exactly why the group were so popular.
After the straight melody things really
hot up and there are fine solos by Reinhardt
and Grappelli. Of the four original
pieces composed by the co-leaders I
preferred ‘Oriental Shuffle.’ Django’s
work on Body and Soul is exceptional
but the most attractive track to me
was ‘When Day Is Done.’
It
is safe to say that all the material
presented would already feature in any
Django aficionado’s collection. So,
the success of the album relies on newcomers
to the music and those who wish to ‘fill
in the gaps’ in their collections. It
deserves popularity but with so much
competitive material available I think
success could be limited.
Jack
Ashby
CD Reviews
Naxos
Jazz LegendsNAXOS
8.120686 
