Nuages [Original recording remastered, Import]

Django Reinhardt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 30, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Emarcy Import
• ASIN: B000068WT1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,434 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Part of the Jazz In Paris series from the French label Gitanes. 14 remastered tracks. Digipak. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Django Reinhardt - Plugged In, May 24, 2008

By 

Gregory M. Wasson (Pinole, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nuages (Audio CD)

When most people think of Django Reinhardt at the top of his game, they think of the time from 1935 through 1937, possibly extending through 1939 when the war broke up the famous Quintette of the Hot Club of France. Stephane Grappelli, the marvelous violinist who had shared the stage with Django for many years, had fled to England to wait out the war. Reinhardt chose to stay with his gypsy compatriots in the wagon camps on the outskirts of Paris, continuing to enjoy the adulation of the many Parisian jazz fans who flocked to hear him in dark cramped "bal musette" nightclubs and large auditoriums alike.

The occupation of France by the Nazis paradoxically opened up new avenues of artistic expression for the musician whose fellow gypsies were being rounded up and sent to concentration camps in Poland and Germany. Without the confining structure of the Quintette, and the familiar interplay between Django and Stephane, Reinhardt was free to explore other styles and instruments. It was during this time that he took up an interest in what was then an exotic instrument - the "electric" guitar.

Although hollow bodied acoustic guitars with electric pickups had already been used by musicians such as Freddie Green with the Count Basie Orchestra, these musicians played the instrument much as they would have an acoustic guitar. They simply took advantage of the increased volume of sound to finally make themselves heard over the trumpets and saxophones. Only Charlie Christian had consistently explored the many possibilities that an electrified guitar offered, in the few short years he had played with the Benny Goodman band before his death at age 23 in the early 1940s.

"Jazz in Paris-Nuages" by Django Reinhardt offers an excellent sampling of the new direction of sound and form that Reinhardt developed during and after World War II. The recordings are taken primarily from the late 40s and early 50s. They dispel the notion that without the classic Quintette Django's playing suffered a general decline and lack of focus. Listening to the elegiac improvisations on tunes like "September Song," "Blues for Ike," or the title track, with their drawn out notes and tender shifts in tempo and volume, one can hear Reinhardt exploring the possibilities afforded by electrification. Combined with his compelling technique and unending musical curiosity, he brings a fresh and beautiful new sound to jazz.

It is not the music of the Quintette, with its astounding arpeggio runs and startlingly assured staccato improvisations. Although he shows that he can still play with his prewar speed, the ability to draw out the notes and play audibly even in the softest of passages produces solos of tremendous beauty and variety.

If you haven't heard Django Reinhardt on electric guitar, you have missed a great part what made him so special. Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool Electric Django shows the way, April 17, 2011

By 

Peter G. Harris (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nuages (Audio CD)

Django's electric period, while maligned by some, provides many of the most creative improvisational works by Django ever. To say that the musical landscape had changed since the Hot Club hot jazz days of the 1930s is a rather large understatement. This CD represents the birth of Cool Django, early 1950s. Styles had changed, the war was over, and the electric guitar had been recently popularized most famously by Charlie Christian. The new "cool jazz" school was a new direction in music, though initially unpopular with the public. Certainly it was of great interest to brilliant improvisors such as Miles Davis. The more relaxed tempos, and the singing sustain provided by the electrification process, allowed Django to create tone paintings of incredible beauty. Let's not forget, Django was a painter too. It is miraculous that Django was able to command the guitar and amplifier to such a degree at such early stages of development for both of these instruments. Yes, the amplifier is an instrument that one needs to master. And yet with that primitive equipment Django's electric tone is so pure and intimate that it defies reason. Of course, the electric guitar went on to become wildy popular and the dominate instrument in popular music in my lifetime (b. 1958). I have studied electric guitarists in jazz, rock, blues, country, etc. for most of my life. There are many great players in all genres. It all boils down to the ability to make the instrument talk. These recordings were made in 1953. To date I have yet to hear any musician speak so eloquently on the electric guitar. How is this possible? Billions of dollars have been spent on research and development by Gibson, Fender, Guild, Marshall, and every other guitar and amplifier company, in search of the ultimate tone. Yet, Django, with his humble, primitive equipment, managed to create the defining sound of electric jazz guitar, which has never been equaled, let alone surpassed. This release, with it's awesome cover photo, is essential. It's tantalizing to think about what Django would have done if he had not died so young. Here is a glimpse.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Django Reinhardt, February 5, 2008

By 

Paul Phillips - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nuages (Audio CD)

This CD contains the 1953 "Nuages", Django's last and many say his most beautiful. The rest of the tunes are later pieces with Django amplified and/or with horns.