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 – 1940 | The Classics Chronological Series – 831 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For fans mostly enamored with Reinhardt and Grappelli's vintage Quintet of the Hot Club of France (QHCF) sides from the '30s, this collection of 1940 recordings might not the best disc to get. Reinhardt completists, however, will certainly find plenty here to admire. The start of The War had broken up the original QHCF, as Grappelli opted to pursue a career on England's relatively safe shores and Reinhardt went solo in Paris. This Classics disc finds a Grappelli-less Reinhardt with a new incarnation of the Quintet, plus several cuts where the guitarist is featured in groups led by such other French musical luminaries as trumpeter Hubert Rostaing and tenor saxophonist Noel Chiboust. Reinhardt regulars like trumpeter Philippe Brun and reed player Alix Combelle also make fine solo contributions to this set of both hot swingers and dance band smoothies. Unessential, but enjoyable all the same. Stephen Cook         Tracklist :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1940-1941 | The Classics Chronological Series – 852 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

All of these sides but one (a pop vocal by Charles Trenet) were made in December 1940, just half a year into the Nazi occupation of Paris. People are still marveling over the fact that Django Reinhardt, a Gypsy who played music closely aligned with Jews and Afro-Americans, was not arrested and put to death by the invasive regime, for these collective jams were and are the antithesis of fascist ideology. It just so happens that this little slice of the chronology contains some of Reinhardt's most interesting material, wonderfully evolved from the earlier Hot Club de France, yet filled with premonitions of how jazz would come to sound ten or even 20 years later. Hubert Rostaing was an inventive clarinetist, sounding something like Marshall Royal, and is featured on most of these sides. Alix Combelle blew a boisterous, Coleman Hawkins-inspired tenor saxophone (as does Rostaing on the sessions of December 18 and 19). Present throughout all of these sessions is a wonderful percussionist by the name of Pierre Fouad, who recorded as a leader for the Swing label a few years later. Tony Rovira deserves to be remembered as a gifted bassist, particularly for the sensitivity he demonstrates on these recordings. The most precious and musically inventive track is "Oiseaux des iles," a brilliantly constructed gypsy-jazz fantasy of such ethnic potency that it would have given Dr. Goebbels a case of non-Aryan indigestion. Trumpeter Pierre Allier, sort of a French person's Frankie Newton, leads a couple of bands, both small and not-so-small, providing one or two examples of how Reinhardt sounded as part of the rhythm section in a large jazz orchestra. The crowning glory of this wonderful album is "Festival Swing," a four-minute all-star big band blowout, with Charles Delaunay introducing each and every member of the band in French, providing English-speaking people with a valuable pronouncing lexicon for all of those wonderful French names. arwulf arwulf     Tracklist :