Customer Reviews

Django Reinhardt 1940 1941

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This album is for every jazz lover, every lover of all things Paris and every guitar aficionado.

'Django Reinhardt 1940 - 1941' is one disc in a series of 10 CDs covering seven years of performances, almost entirely with 'Le Quintette du Hot Club de France' in Paris.

My first experience with Django was a rather poorly done vinyl recording which reinforced my impression of his music as the same thing you hear on Truffaut's movie, 'Shoot the Piano Player', where the 'jazz' is a poor imitation of American 1920's club jazz.

Most of the tracks on these records are remarkable for their age, and most feature a full jazz ensemble and not just the gypsy guitarist leader. In fact, the saxes and the coronet seem to be soloing as much or more than the guitar.

Most numbers are instrumentals, with a mix of Reinhardt compositions and American standards, and I believe the quality of the performances equal some of the very best Americans of the same period.