Django Reinhardt - Djangology: Solo & Duet Recordings (2019)

Django Reinhardt, is regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century. He was the first jazz talent to emerge from Europe and remains the most significant. Reinhardt, who was of Roma (Gypsy) parentage, traveled through France and Belgium as a boy and young man learning to play the violin, guitar, and banjo. The loss of the use of two fingers of his left hand after a caravan fire in 1928 did not impair his remarkable aptitude for the guitar. In 1934 he became co-leader, with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, a group whose many records are greatly prized by connoisseurs. Perhaps his most lasting influence on jazz was the introduction of solos based on melodic improvisation, at a time when guitarists generally played chorded solos. His inimitable improvisations, particularly those in slow tempos, were often a curious but beguiling blend of Roma and jazz sounds. Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz, including Minor Swing, Daphne, Belleville, Djangology, Swing '42, and Nuages. Jazz guitarist Frank Vignola claims that nearly every major popular-music guitarist in the world has been influenced by Reinhardt.