Oh lady be good django reinhardt biography
It is said of fans and musicians alike that we don’t find music, but that music finds us. When that meeting happens, music grabs on and refuses to let go. How many times has the story been told of the musician who has suffered an injury so severe that it would all but impossible to continue playing? Yet, the outcome is the same: despite the doctor’s advice, the musician somehow finds a way to continue his career. Such stories sound like myths, but they actually happen. Consider the story of Chicago pianist Norman Malone, who suffered paralysis on his right side when his mentally-deranged father tried to kill him and his siblings. Malone had only played piano for five years, but he decided to continue studying with a focus on repertoire written for the left hand alone. His triumphal story is presented in a new documentary, “For the Left Hand”. It’s not a jazz film, but any musician will appreciate Malone’s struggles.
An earlier and more famous version of the story concerns Django Reinhardt, whose body was severely burned when his caravan trailer caught fire on the night of November 2, 1928. Reinhardt was only 18 years old, but he had been a professional musician since the age of 12, performing popular songs on the banjo-guitar. He ignored the doctor’s warnings about finding a new career, and when his brother Joseph placed a guitar in the hospital bed, it wasn’t long before Reinhardt was developing a new technique. He resumed his recording career in 1931, and sometime during this period, he was exposed to American jazz through Louis Armstrong’s recording of “Dallas Blues”. One story says that Reinhardt openly wept at the beauty of the music. Regardless of the story (and the tears), there is no doubt that Reinhardt was inspired to use his new technique to play jazz.
Eventually, Reinhardt would be acclaimed as “the first original jazz soloist from outside America”, but it took several years for him to move away from the flashy tremolos and other guitar effect Django (pronounced zhan (long “a”) – go) Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy culture that held medieval beliefs such as distrust in science. He was born into a tribe that roamed the countryside until they established themselves near Old Paris, when he was eight. Imagine a camp with dogs and children playing, chicken simmering in campfire pots, the music of accordions, banjos, and violins dancing through the air, women in long dresses and curls, the men in stripped waistcoats donning moustaches. The caravans, large covered (and usually horse-drawn) vehicles, doubled as both family dwelling and transportation. His tribe assimilated into the Manouches, which are the local Romani groups of France. From the gathered cultural and linguistic evidence, it has been ascertained that his people probably originally came from Roma, which is now part of southeast Pakistan. Django was born January 23, 1910 in Lieberchies, Belgium. He always liked music and got his first banjo/guitar at age twelve. This instrument has six strings and is tuned to standard guitar tuning. He started his career in music at age thirteen, playing at a dance hall on the Rue Monge, with Guerino an accordionist. His first recordings were made at the Ideal Company with accordionist Jean Vaissade. He accompanied Coleman Hawkins on the recording of Stardust in 1935. Ultraphone recorded the first sides of the Quinette, which included Dinah, Tiger Rag, Oh Lady Be Good, and I Saw Stars. In 1937, he recorded Chicago with the Quinette. In 1928, some celluloid flowers his wife had made caught on fire in their caravan. In the fire, Reinhardt suffered a badly burned left hand. His right leg was seriously burned, as well. The third and fourth fingers of his fretting hand didn’t heal well and were basically paralyzed as the tendons had shrunk. His mother stayed with him during his recuperation, which lasted a year and a half. She would ask him w Romani-French jazz musician (1910–1953) Django Reinhardt Reinhardt in 1946 Jean Reinhardt Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium Fontainebleau, France Florine Mayer Sophie Ziegler Musical artist Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django (French:[dʒãŋɡoʁɛjnaʁt] or [dʒɑ̃ɡoʁenɑʁt]), was a Belgian-French Manouche or Sinti jazz guitarist and composer. Since he was born on Belgian soil, in Liberchies, he is also often named a Belgian musician. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most significant exponents. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. Reinhardt recorded in France with many visiting American musicians, including Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter, and briefly toured the United States with Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1946. He died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in 1953 at the age of 43. Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz, including "Minor Swing", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and "Nuages". The jazz guitarist Frank Vignola said that nearly every major popular music guitarist in the world has been influen Original show tune by George & Ira Gershwin; from the 1924 musical "Lady, Be Good!" "Oh, Lady Be Good!" is a 1924 song by George and Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Walter Catlett in the Broadway musical Lady, Be Good! written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, and the Gershwin brothers and starring Fred and Adele Astaire. The song was also performed by the chorus in the film Lady Be Good (1941), although the film is unrelated to the musical. Recordings in 1925 were by Paul Whiteman, Carl Fenton, and Cliff Edwards. A 1947 recording of the song became a hit for Ella Fitzgerald, notable for her scat solo. For her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959), it was sung as a ballad arranged by Nelson Riddle. Django Reinhardt – Music Biography
Django Reinhardt
Born
(1910-01-23)23 January 1910Died 16 May 1953(1953-05-16) (aged 43) Spouse(s) Relatives Joseph Reinhardt (brother)
Lousson Reinhardt (son)
Babik Reinhardt (son)Musical career Genres Jazz, gypsy jazz, bebop, Romani music Occupation(s) Guitarist, composer Instrument(s) Guitar, violin, banjo Years active 1928–1953 Oh, Lady Be Good!
Recorded versions