Django Reinhart

Monday
This a sculpture of the famous French jazz musician, in the nearby village of Samois-sur-Seine. Jean "Django" Reinhardt was born 23 January 1910 in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, into a French family of Manouche Romani descent. Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris. His family made cane furniture for a living, but its members included several keen amateur musicians. Reinhardt was attracted to music at an early age, first playing the violin. At the age of 12, he received a banjo-guitar as a gift. He quickly learned to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he watched. By age 13, Reinhardt was able to make a living playing music. He received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life. At age 18 in 1928 in Saint-Ouen, Reinhardt was severely injured in a caravan fire. He received first- and second-degree burns over half his body and the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand were badly burned, causing him to develop a unique technique, using only his remaining fingers. After a period of convalescence, he worked in cafés in Paris. In 1934, he was a founding member, with Stephane Grappelli, of the ensemble that became known as the Quintette du Hot Club de France. In the years before World War II the group gained considerable renown through its numerous recordings, and Reinhardt became an international celebrity. The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years, he led a big band, another quintet, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazzmen as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko and Ray McKinley. In 1946, he visited England and Switzerland, toured the USA as a soloist with Duke Ellington's band (playing an amplified guitar for the first time), and worked in New York. After his return to France, Reinhardt became re-immersed in Gypsy life, finding it difficult to adjust to the postwar world. He sometimes showed up for scheduled concerts without a guitar or amplifier, or wandered off to the park or beach. He developed a reputation among his band, fans, and managers as being extremely unreliable. In the early 50's he retired to Samois, where he died in 1953 at the young age of 43. Every year in June The Festival de Jazz Django Reinhardt takes place in Samois and is seen amongst the Gypsy Jazz community as being the definitive Django festival, with people traveling from all over the world to attend.