DJANGO REINHARDT – 1934-1935 | The Classics Chronological Series – 703 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This first installment in Classics' multi-volume Reinhardt series is a fine place to start your Django collection. Recorded between 1934-1935, the 23 tracks include many of first sides from the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which Reinhardt formed with frequent cohort and violinist Stephane Grappelli. Cut for the French Ultraphone label, the material includes such top-notch QHCF sides as "I Saw Stars," "I'm Confessin'," and "Dinah." There's also a few numbers Reinhardt cut with the Michel Warlop Orchestra before teaming up with QHCF. And while JSP's Reinhardt discs often beat out many of the Classics titles for sound quality, this early offering ranks as one that stands up just fine. Stephen Cook       Tracklist :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1935 | The Classics Chronological Series – 727 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Gathered here are many of the first sides cut by the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Better known maybe as Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli's band, this very original Parisian combo took the energy of early jazz classics sides by Armstrong, Beiderbecke, et al., and infused it with elements from the French chanson tradition and Reinhardt's own gypsy heritage. Beyond their unique guitar and violin repartee, though, Reinhardt and Grappelli could match -- and even surpass -- the improvised swing forged by their stateside contemporaries, a feat rarely achieved in the early days of European jazz. With the quality of these maiden QHCF sides, then, the pickings are plentiful. Alongside other finely remastered collections on JSP and Affinity, this and many other Classics volumes in the label's strict chronological series will probably be best appreciated by completists rather than survey-seeking newcomers. That said, the 22 tracks here contain some top performances, including such QHCF standouts as "You and the Night and the Music," "Ultrafox," and "Avalon." Also to be found are a some innocuous vocals by Jerry Mengo, a few cuts manned by New Orleans native and multi-instrumentalist Frank "Big Boy" Goudie, and plenty of Reinhardt and Grappelli's incredible playing. A nice addition to an already healthy catalog. Stephen Cook       Tracklist :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1001 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After being separated by the Second World War for more than five years, Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli recorded eight sides together in London on January 31 and February 1, 1946. Their next shared studio recording date occurred in Paris on May 26, 1947, resulting in the five decidedly modernistic tracks that open this volume of the Classics Django Reinhardt chronology. Django had clearly evolved at a rate commensurate with the rapid evolution of jazz itself from 1939 to 1947. His solos reveal a musical consciousness well beyond where he had been only a few years earlier. Stéphane, of course, had also experienced his own sort of artistic development. Yet the contrast between the two is noticeable and it would take the violinist many years to absorb and fully digest what he was now experiencing. On April 16, 1947, Django recorded a "Minor Blues" with the 12-piece band that had been working with him at the Boef sur le Toit, a Parisian nightclub where his own paintings -- a sensual series of landscapes and nudes -- were on display. He then led a reconstituted Quintet of the Hot Club of France, featuring clarinet/alto saxophonist Michel de Villers, through four pleasant musical episodes intended to be used as a soundtrack for La Fleur de l'Age, a film by Marçel Carne that unfortunately never reached completion. Note that this group's "Clair de Lune" is not the famous movement from Claude Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, but something just as lovely. Django's next opportunity to make records in a studio occurred in Brussels on May 21st during a tour of Belgium. The six sides cut on that day and subsequently released on the Decca label represent Reinhardt's very first recordings using an electric guitar. They also herald the return of master clarinetist Hubert Rostaing, who made great records with Reinhardt's groups during the year 1940 and reappears sporadically in the Django discography like a will o' the wisp throughout most of the decade. This excellent clarinetist was in the same league as Marshall Royal, Aaron Sachs, Hank D'Amico, or perhaps most of all Buddy DeFranco. Rostaing recorded extensively with Django during the year 1947, and their phonographic collaborations would continue until another Belgian tour in November of 1948. Everything included on this disc qualifies as jazz of the very highest order. There's bebop running through these sessions like quicksilver, and Reinhardt had begun to experiment with the quirks and expanded potentials of the electrified guitar. "Porto Cabello" is smoky, almost a tango. "Blues for Barclay," dedicated to Blue Star record label founders Eddie and Nicole Barclay, feels like a spontaneous jam session. Even Edvard Grieg's Danse Norvegienne, which sounded almost silly when they tried it on in 1940, comes across in its 1947 incarnation as effortlessly hip. arwulf arwulf           Tracklist + Credits :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1947, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1046 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The combination of an early modern jazz clarinet and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France creates a special kind of chemistry that occurs periodically throughout Django Reinhardt's recorded works. This volume in the Classics Reinhardt chronology contains an unusually high concentration of clarinetists, most notably the great Hubert Rostaing. Given his warm, personable timbre and unusual dexterity, it is surprising that more jazz lovers are not aware of this remarkable musician. The previous Django Reinhardt installment in the Classics chronology, 1947, contained no less than 13 tracks documenting the Rostaing/Reinhardt collaboration. 1947, Vol. 2 (Classics 1046) forks over 15 more examples of their best work together, along with two tracks featuring clarinetist Maurice Meunier and one greasy strut -- "Douce Ambiance" -- involving clarinetist Gerard Leveque. Reinhardt, heard playing electric guitar on all but three of the 20 tracks, sounds as lyrical and inventive as ever. "Brazil," unlike most other peoples' renditions, uses hardly any percussion, zeroing in on the melody first and foremost. It is interesting to hear Reinhardt's interpretation of "Topsy," a jam structure invented by Count Basie and Eddie Durham, who pioneered the newfangled electrified guitar back in 1938. "Gypsy With a Song" is Reinhardt's teasing response to Duke Ellington's beautiful composition "Gypsy Without a Song." The disc finishes off with two fine selections from a Quintet session involving Stéphane Grappelli. The rest of the material recorded on that date -- November 14, 1947 -- can be found on Classics 1317, which chronicles the years 1947-1951. arwulf arwulf    Tracklist + Credits :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1947-1951 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1317 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Anyone intimately familiar with Django Reinhardt's later recorded works might wonder how one CD can contain all of his recordings from late 1947 through 1951. While it is a fact that Reinhardt experienced increasing periods of unemployment after 1947 as his popularity waned, he certainly made enough records during this time period to fill more than one compact disc. The solution to this puzzle apparently involves issues of licensing, copyright, and ownership. During January and February 1949, and then again in April and May of 1950, Django Reinhardt, using small groups containing both French and Italian musicians and featuring either Stéphane Grappelli or Andre Ekyan, made a number of excellent recordings for radio broadcast purposes in Rome. Although the producers of the Classics Chronological Series usually seem able to procure the recordings necessary for a thorough survey of each artist they feature, whoever owns the rights to the Roman Reinhardt acetates either wouldn't allow them to be used by the folks at Classics, or perhaps the Italians wanted more money than the French company was willing or able to afford. In any case, there's a gap of about 18 months in this overview, but it doesn't sound that way at all because what you get is a mighty dose of late-period Django Reinhardt, and every nanosecond of music is precious and fine. The first ten tracks were recorded in Paris in late 1947 and early 1948 by a Quintet of the Hot Club of France featuring the violin and piano of Stéphane Grappelli. "Si Tu Savais" is a profound opener that feels as though it is referencing harsh realities and twists of fate. It sounds, in fact, a lot like "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" Throughout these ten selections, both the ensemble's collective creativity and Reinhardt's improvisations are dazzling. The next block of material inadvertently calls up another incongruity. The Classics label's self-imposed delineation between studio and live material is remarkably inconsistent, as plenty of live recordings have deliberately been either included or excluded from their extensive catalog. Lots of live Reinhardt didn't make it into his chronology on Classics. Here the producers went ahead and wove in a continuous live concert recording made in Brussels on December 1, 1948. Django Reinhardt and a small group featuring clarinetist Hubert Rostaing present a full range of moods and textures, including the Benny Carter/Ben Webster steamroller "Cadillac Slim" -- with thunderous Gene Krupa-styled drumming during the clarinet solo -- and a brief "Symphonie," which turns out to be a vigorous workout for Django's guitar. But speaking of the guitar, as the chronology leapfrogs over everything Django accomplished in Rome, listeners are treated to a pair of lovely Parisian unaccompanied guitar solos, including a breathtakingly gorgeous, landscape-sized six-and-a-half-minute version of "Nuages." If you are fortunate enough to get your hands on this amazing piece of work, play it back for yourself over and over again. Listen to it for hours if necessary. It might just be the greatest musical statement that Django Reinhardt ever played into a microphone. As he only had a few years remaining in his short life, it is a pity that he recorded so infrequently after 1950, because the clues he left behind clearly hint at fascinating developments in the art of guitar playing that would be realized and expounded upon by other guitarists further on down the road. arwulf arwulf        Tracklist :