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 :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1941-1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 877 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

There's no danger of this volume sounding too much like any of the previous installments in the Classics Django Reinhardt chronology, as the guitarist conducted unprecedented experiments with different instrumentation and participated in an unusual number of big-band sessions. Five sides waxed in Paris on September 11, 1941, feature the Benny Carter-inspired alto saxophonist Andre Ekyan and clarinetist supreme Hubert Rostaing. These reconstituted Hot Club Quintets were expertly driven by premier percussionist Pierre Fouad. Later that month another monstrous get-together involving an enormous number of top-notch European jazz musicians yielded something called "Festival Swing 1942." Note that it was common practice to name these jam numbers for the year that was yet to come, implying that progressive musicians are always looking ahead. Other soloists in addition to Django were violinist Michel Warlop, vibraphonist Willy Kett, and Dany Kane, who played harmonica in a manner similar to Larry Adler. Django's next appearance in front of the recording microphones was as part of Hubert Rostaing's septet with Aimé Barelli playing trumpet and Noel Chiboust on tenor sax. "Première Idée d'Eddie," dated March 31, 1942, is the only known recording featuring Django Reinhardt playing the string bass! His bowed solo is worth the cost of the whole package. Four more titles from the same session cover the usual wide spectrum of tones, textures, and moods. Flutist Maurice Cizeron is featured on the beautiful reverie "Nymphéas" and "Féerie" is a frantic, driving big-band stomp. Hubert Rostaing is featured on the friendly bounce "Belleville" and a sort of guitar/clarinet sonata entitled "Lentement, Mademoiselle." In April and May of 1942, Django toured Belgium and made a fascinating series of great recordings in Brussels for the Rhythme label. First came four exquisite duets with pianist Ivon de Bie. Two of these, "Blues en Mineur" and "Vous et Moi," featured Django playing the violin. The seven remaining tracks find Django leading his own "Grand Orchestre" or sitting in with equally large bands led either by reedman Fud Candrix or Stan Brenders, who seems to have been trying for an Artie Shaw sound with a string quartet added to the congregation. Everything heard here is guaranteed to satisfy, even the sweet big-band sides, for there's no resisting any band with Django Reinhardt soloing right down in front. arwulf arwulf        Tracklist :

DJANGO REINHARDT – 1942-1943 | The Classics Chronological Series – 905 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is Django Reinhardt during the war years, without the services of perennial partner Stephane Grappelli and leading a large band in Paris (Grappelli would return for stretches after the war). Even sans his friend's simpatico violin, Reinhardt is still impressive on these 21 quality sides, picking nicely throughout. Heavy on his own material, set highlights include a two-part "Improvisation No. 3," "Belleville," and "Douce Ambiance." The sound remains anchored in Reinhardt's earlier Hot Club days of the late '30s, touched by a bluesier-than-normal strain and some hardened swing. A nice bet for dedicated listeners. 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 :