Transcript Slide 1

Gypsy Jazz (Legacy of Django Reinhardt)
/ Juraj Havlík, III.D
/ manouche jazz? Django Reinhardt?
- “manouche” from the French term meaning “gypsy”
- also: gypsy jazz / gypsy swing
- style of jazz attributed to a gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt
and violinist Stephane Grapelli who founded the all strings
jazz esemble - The Quintet du Hot Club de France, in the
1930s in Paris, France
- blending of gypsy musical elements with jazz
- gypsies have carried and preserved the musical legacy of
Django Reinhardt
/ 1910 – 1953, Django Reinhardt
- 1910, Belgium / 1953, France
- guitar-banjo player in his youth
- later switched to the guitar after a near fatal injury when his
caravan caught fire / forced him to approach his instrument
differently than many conventional guitarists
- Django overcame his handicap
- 1929 – 1933 / with Stephane Grapelli he would jam
together, along with a loose circle of other musicians
- 1934 / they were both invited to form the "Quintette du
Hot Club de France” / one of the few well-known jazz
ensembles composed only of string instruments
/ 1910 – 1953, Django Reinhardt
- Django also played and recorded with many American jazz
musicians / Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Rex Stewart,
Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie
- the quintet used the Selmer Maccaferri / the first
commercially available guitars with a cutaway and later
with an aluminium-reinforced neck
- after the war (Django survived the war, despite the Nazi
regime's systematic murder of several hundred thousand
European Romanis) he rejoined Grappelli in the UK
/ in 1946 he went to tour the United States as a special
guest soloist with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
/ 1910 – 1953, Django Reinhardt
- 1947 / Django returned to France / he spent the remainder
of his days re-immersed in Romani life, having found it
difficult to adjust to the modern world
- 1953 / Django collapsed from a brain haemorrhage
/ what makes this jazz gypsy
- although many instrumental lineups exist, a group including
one lead guitar, violin, two rhythm guitars, and bass is often
the norm
- gypsy jazz is a unique guitar discipline, and due to this, it’s
associated with multiple techniques that are definitive of the
sound of this music:
/ rhythm / rhythm guitar in gypsy jazz uses a special form
of strumming known as "la pompe”
/ harmony / is based on the chord shapes Django was
forced to use due to his injury
/ lead / playing in this style has been summarised as
ornamented or decorated arpeggio
/ what makes this jazz gypsy
/ repertoire / gypsy jazz has its own set of frequently
played standards, which are fairly distinct from the
standards tunes of mainsteam jazz, however, contemporary
ensembles may adapt almost any type of song to the style
/ gypsy jazz today
- Django invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar
technique (sometimes called 'hot' jazz guitar) that has
become a living musical tradition within French gypsy
culture
- gypsy jazz has enjoyed a certain “revival” in a sense over
the last decade, it can be attributed to a combination of
factors :
/ growing popularity of current generation players
/ a wider availability of access to gypsy jazz recordings
/ growing availability of Selmer-Macaferri guitars
/ growing number of Django festivals worldwide
/ thanks for Your attention