Django: 'Three Fingered Lightning'

I was acquainted with jazz through the guitarist Django Reinhardt. Although in my teenage years I had 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis, I was not really into Jazz at the time. It was only in my late twenties and through Gypsy Jazz guitar that I became passionate about Jazz. To this day there is still some Jazz that I can't listen to too much of, such as big band or some swing ensembles. Maybe if I was introduced to Jazz at an earlier age I would have an ear for the big band sound, and love the saxophone more, but I came to jazz through guitar. It was Django Reinhardt's mix of traditional gypsy and contemporary Jazz sounds that struck a chord (pun intended) with me. It was irresistible, and I had to learn more. In my youth I played a lot of Blues guitar, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. I found the licks I had learnt from that period of my guitar playing translated well into the language of Jazz. I have always preferred simple, raw and basic sounds, in particular when there are only two instruments or maximum three. Once things start to get too complicated I lose interest. That's why I always dug ragtime guitar and the sound of solo guitarists. I have always loved the sound of old recordings: there is nostalgia associated with it, as if someone is speaking to you beyond the grave.


Django Reinhardt passed away in 1953, and for a while his legacy was overshadowed by other styles of music. In the sixties there was a strong revival however and to this day his music is popular among many renowned musicians from The Beatles to Chet Atkins. Django Reinhardt pretty much invented the style known now as 'Gypsy Jazz'. The style is very guitar heavy and consists of a driving rhythm and bass, coupled with a powerful lead guitar. This is the distinct sound of the Hot Club Quintet which Django founded after he met violinist Stephane Grapelli. The rhythmic style is known in France as 'La Pompe' which literally means 'the pump', because that is what you are doing when you play. You thrust the hand down then quickly bring it back up again like you were pumping the strings. This sound emulates the off-beat rhythm of swing music, with emphasis on the second and fourth quarter notes of each bar.

Selmer-Maccaferri Guitars

Gypsy Jazz is played on a variety of guitars, but most popular are the 'Selmer-Maccaferri' guitars designed by the luthiers Mario Maccaferri and Selmer in the 1930s. This is what give Django his trademark sound. These guitars bear similarities in tone to the mandolin with a dry, shrill sound. there are two types: the 'Petite Bouche' ('small mouth') and 'Grande Bouche' ('large mouth') the two being used for solo and rhythm playing respectively.

Speed

Although speed is considered a sign of virtuosity among advanced players -in particular in the Dutch style pioneered by the guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg and his trio- Gypsy Jazz doesn't have to played fast. Essential is that the rhythm has a distinctive bounce to it, which is accomplished as aforementioned by the use by the upstroke played on the offbeat.

Musical Elements in Gypsy Jazz

There are several elements which are common in gypsy jazz and were used (if not invented) by Django Reinhardt. Minor chords are played with the added 6th, making a minor 6th. This adds dissonance to the chords which makes it sound more jazzy. Minor chords are often replaced with their substitutes of diminished and half-diminished chords, this too adds tension and dissonance. The chord shapes are easier to grasp and can be transposed up and down the fretboard. 

Django the Eclectic Genius

Django was a musical sponge. He absorbed concepts and melodies from anything he listened to, not only from swing musicians such as Louis Armstrong, but from classical composers like Debussy and  Ravel. There are distinct melodic elements in 'Lentement Mademoiselle' for example which are reminiscent of Debussy 'Prelude a L'apres-Midi d'un Faune'. The name for his composition 'Nuages' was also most definitely borrowed from eponymous classical piece by Debussy and has its own ethereal quality to it. The rhythm in 'Troublant Bolero' is also almost certainly a latin inspired tribute to Ravel's Bolero. Django wrote one gypsy waltz called 'Montagne St.Genevieve'.









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