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5.0 out of 5 stars
Big band Django, January 26, 2009
This review is from: Intégrale Django Reinhardt, Vol. 12: "Manois des Mes Reves" 1943-1945 (Audio CD)
Most people know Django as a member (primus inter pares that is) of small groups; Django also enjoyed playing with big bands; off and on he can be heard as a member of Michel Warlop's dance orchestra, but also as a guest player with the Belgian big bands of Stan Brenders (with strings) and Fud Candrix, a strong tenorist (to be found on vol.11). The first five items are by a slightly expanded HQF, featuring two clarinets, followed by three Reinhardt solos. Fud Candrix, whose band fullfilled an engagement at the ABC theatre in Paris (Fud had also fullfilled highly succesful engagements in Berlin's Delphi Palast theatre and even recorded some excellent big band sides in Berlin, which are well worth looking for!), rekindled the flame in Django and together they waxed four titles of which "Belleville", "Oubli" and the appropriately named "ABC" are outstanding. Django next fronted larger ensembles consisting of French musicians, with an altoist from the West Indies, Robert Mavounzy, providing scorching solos in "Blues d'Autrefois" and the best rendition of "Place de Brouckére". Between July 1943 and November 1944 Django did not record (he tried unsuccesfully to make his way to Switzerland because of mounting nazi pressure), his first post war recording being the two sided "Welcome" as a member of Noël Chiboust's all-star studio band. Three live recordings (one containing a radio interview and an exerpt of Django's holy mass played on organ by Leo Chauliac)close disc one.
Disc two opens with the four recordings that have Django sitting in with a quintet drawn from Glenn Miller's air force band and further contains all of his recordings and broadcasts with the American Air Transport Command Band directed by Sgt. Jack Platt. Although not in the same class as Miller's or indeed Sam Donahue's service bands (or perhaps even Britain's Squadronaires), the ATC band, stocked with completely unknown musicians, acquits itself very well and the results are quite well worth hearing. (The only member of the ATC band I have ever come across is trumpeter/arranger Lonny Wilfong who arranged for Jimmy Lunceford).
All in all a generous amount of very good big band music (partly recorded under German occupation!), interspersed with some small group recordings. The booklet comes with very informative liner notes (in French and English) and full discographical details, remastering is quite good with respect for the original soundpicture, which means that on some tracks there is some orignal 78's noise and that some of the live tracks are not particularly clear, but this will not deter the serious listener (and this set will probably not appeal to the casually interested anyhow). While the set may not come cheap, it's worth every penny!
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