Django Reinhardt

They guy is a legend. Just deal with it. Or get some less resolving phones.

While I agree in principle -- but not tone -- with Coltrane, if you like the style and want a nicely recorded modern Django-phile then you should try John Jorgenson. I saw him with JP11801 earlier this year and his is a guitar genius. This album is a good start:

um...err...poor john is shunned by the rest of the gypsy jazz guitarists like bireli lagrene and stochelo rosenberg for good reason.  He is a decent guitar player but has never actually played with any of the top players in the world.  His style is meh compared to them, his improv is poor.  I guess thats why none of them want to be seen with him lol.  :[

 

anyway, Django is regarded as the best of all time by the best guitar players ever.  Joe Pass, Hendrix, MAB, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, B.B King, Joe Walsh, Phil Keaggy, Jimmy Page, all agree Django is untouchable and the best to ever walk the earth.  He was doing things in the early 30s and 40s that nobody did, and nobody since has done.  Without him, there would be no such thing as solo guitar work.  He was the first and did it on a level beyond genius.  His improv would have been enough to sway Mozart into stopping and rethinking his music career :)

 

Djangos recordings were remastered a while back but it took away from the magic.  the haze and pop marks are etched into my soul and i wouldnt want a clear version of it.  20+ years of daily django listening does that to you.  

 

Also, I do play Django style guitar and have for about a 6 years.  If you want to see and listen to the best guitar players to ever walk this earth, look for Stochelo Rosenberg, or Bireli Lagrene on youtube.  You will never believe the things they do.  

 

Its a whole new world of musicianship you likely have never known existed.  Warning, you wont look at your favorite guitar players the same way ever again if you do a swift search of bireli or stochelo on youtube and watch some of their stuff.  These 4 links should get you started, enjoy and let me know how you like it!  Bireli and Stochelo are THE UNDISPUTED KINGS OF SHREDDING.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp4K-DLv4oQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWQXAuhs7Oc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iJ7bs4mTUY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwmpuvj8dSw

 

Edit: im kind of a django gypsy jazz nutbar as you can see, sorry for the 4 year bump but had to confirm the tracks by django were remastered.

Edited by swbf2cheater - 6/25/10 at 6:44am

Up here in Seattle we have Pearl Django.  Good band, nice covers.  They write some of their own Gypsy Jazz tunes as well.  During the summer the local jazz radio station has a summer brunch cruise around Elliot Bay, and the Pearl Django cruise is the only one which sells out year after year! 

 

http://www.pearldjango.com/

you could always just listen to the originals and allow yourself to get used to the difference in the recording style

 

and at the same time enjoy the fact that those old mono recordings compress really well... as in bitrates below 320Kbps can easily be achieved with lossless with alot of old mono recordings from the 30s/40s (and earlier)

Edited by necropimp - 6/25/10 at 10:21am

I love Django. I have his complete recordings.

 

Don't dismiss some of the best music you will ever hear because of the lack of recording quality in the era it was recorded. Just track down the best sounding versions of Django's recordings and you'll be set.

 

Django's recordings have been remastered a thousand time over but only 1 or 2 people actually succeeded in remastering those old tracks. Everything else has been no-noised to death and/or has had fake stereo processing added.

 

For some sound-alikes try the following:

 

Pearl Django

Hot Club Sandwich

Rosenberg Trio

Hot Club of San Francisco

John Jorgenson

Oscar Aleman

Eddie Lang with Joe Venuti

Connie Evingson (Gypsy in my soul)

Paris Combo

Edited by LFF - 6/25/10 at 4:48pm

I consider is sacrilegious for the rosenberg trio to be on that list with everyone else lol 

 

sorry :[

 

Stochelo Rosenberg is much more melodic than Django.  He uses django licks but his style is all his own and not Django-esque.  Everyone after him stole from his style and tries to copy it. If anyone sounds like Django, It would be Bireli Lagrene, hes Django on steroids.  Stochelo is untouchable but his music is predictable, you can tell what beautiful notes are coming soon.  Its like he knows what you want to hear.  Mr. Rosenberg is my favorite, my idol and my god :) lol, its just that after 20 years of listening to him, i know him like the back of my hand and just can tell what he is going to do and play in a new song ive never heard.  

 

Bireli on the other hand is just like Django, but faster and more complex and equally as beautiful.  You cannot tell what is coming next and in that respect I think he and Django are similar.  Babik ( django's son) said that the closest match to his dad was Bireli 

Edited by swbf2cheater - 6/25/10 at 6:33pm

There is only one Django. You need to get the best transfer... JSP Records. Head and shoulders above the rest.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Early-Recordings-Chronogical-Order/dp/B00004S5WA/

I should dig deeper into this...

Slightly off-topic, but how's the "Djangology" compilation as a starting point and/or sound-wise? It's the only one my library has.

ANYTHING you can get is worth it.  Just be prepared to not understand some of it.  It may be a new experience into the world of speed improvising, realize it was the 1930s and 40s when he was doing this, and he only played with 2 fingers.  His ring, middle and pinky were burned to a point of almost uselessness and were stuck in one position that later paved the way for brand new chords that he invented.

 

CDs to purchase or demo to begin with if you can on the net

 

The Rosenberg Trios first cd called Seresta , that got me started on my path to music and love of Django

 

http://www.amazon.com/Seresta-20-Anniversary-Rosenberg-Trio/dp/B002AWM11M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1277559471&sr=1-2

 

Bireli Lagrenes Move, a newer CD of his, excellent

 

http://www.amazon.com/Move-Bireli-Lagrene-Gipsy-Project/dp/B00075149E/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1277559527&sr=1-12

 

 

take a few minutes and find a place online that lets you buy and demo songs from each, or look them up on youtube.

Edited by swbf2cheater - 6/26/10 at 6:41am

Jimmy Rosenberg (whom I believe is a ... cousin? nephew?... of Stochelo's), and Tchavolo Shmitt and Dorado Shmitt are also well worth listening to. There's a Bireli Lagrene "Gypsy Project and Friends" DVD which has an amazing concert with Bireli's band... and virtually another amazing concert with Bireli's band and lots of guests (including Stochelo and Dorado) that might show you a bunch of musicians to follow.  Bireli's work with violinist Florin Nicolescu is just crazy-good!

 

Some  Django is in much better sound quality than others -- I thought the Naxos series did a good job on sound quality from old 78s, especially starting around vol. 4 or so. I don't know if those are still in print.  There's later Django on RCA that is quite fine, all released and rereleased in multiple compilations, sliced/diced into differing chunks.

I feel bad for jimmy.  He had a falling out a few years ago.  Glad to see him recovered and back playing again.  I owned his guitar for a while :\