Gypsy Guitar Django Reinhardt VV-012

In today's VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I tour some early vinyl records that showcase GYPSY GUITARIST GREAT DJANGO REINHARDT. Many of these will be original compositions by Django Reinhardt . These recordings of Django are found on Vinyl LP Record compilations of his recordings between 1937 and 1949.  Today I will  divide the show into three segments, DJANGO Songs Pre-WW2, Songs During WW2 and Songs after WW2. In all, I will SHOWCASE ten of the great works of GYPSY GUITARIST DJANGO REINHARDT. When Day is Done (R. Katscher-B. de Sylva), rec 4/22/1937, ____, 3:10 [Capitol-Bluenote Compilation 1996] Minor Swing (S.Grappelli-D.Reinhardt) , rec 9/9/1937, _____, 3:14 [Capitol-Bluenote Compilation 1996] Naguine (D. Reinhardt), rec 6/30/1939, Paris, 2:25 [Capitol-Bluenote Compilation 1996] Djangology (D. Reinhardt), rec 5/8/1942, Brussels, 3:04 [VERVE Jazz Masters Compilation 1994] Blues Clair (D. Reinhardt), rec 2/26/1943, _______, 3:01 [Capitol-Bluenote Compilation 1996] Belleville (D. Reinhardt), rec 2/1/1946, London, 3:15 [VERVE Jazz Masters Compilation 1994] Nuages (D. Reinhardt-J. Larue), rec 2/1/1946, London, 3:15 [VERVE Jazz Masters Compilation 1994] Swing 48 (D. Reinhardt), rec 7/6/1947, Paris, 2:45 [VERVE Jazz Masters Compilation 1994] Brick Top (D. Reinhardt-S. Grappelli), rec Feb 1949, Rome, 3:42 [Djangology remaster 1961] Night and Day (C. Porter), rec 3/10/1953, Paris, 2:51 [VERVE Jazz Masters Compilation 1994]   http://youtu.be/OYX4hQ00zcw Django Reinhardt, Jean Vaissade - La Caravane - Paris, 20.06.1928 L’Accordéoniste Jean Vaissade - Jean Vaissade (acc); Django Reinhardt (bj); unknown (slide whistle) - 1928 June 20 - Paris DJANGO REINHARDT is so well known in Jazz and Guitar circles that perhaps he needs no introduction…. yet there is much cultural and personal background about this fascinating guitarist and his place in music history in the context of world events of the 1940s !!! Jean Reinhardt, nicknamed “DJANGO, a gipsy word for “I AWAKE”, was born 1/23/1910, in a caravan, in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, about 60km south of Brussels, into a family of Manouche gypsies. This was just 4 years before the German invasion of Belgium in 1914 and Germany’s declaration of war on France, in WW1. Starting at age 8, Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani, or Gypsy encampments close to Paris, playing banjo, guitar and violin. His brother Joseph Reinhardt, two years younger, was an accomplished guitarist. Django Reinhardt played the violin at first, then at the age of 12, he learned to play a “banjo-guitar”. A banjo-guitar looks like a banjo, and sounds like a banjo, but is tuned like a guitar and can be played by guitarists. By the age of 13, Reinhardt was able to make a living playing music. His first known recording (in June 20, 1928, AGE 18) is of him playing the banjo –guitar with accordianist Jean Vaissade Not long after this first recording, also when he was 18, Reinhardt was severely injured in a caravan fire. (For those non-europeans, the term “caravan” refers to a small trailer in which one can live while traveling. In the context of 1928 Belgium, these were horse-drawn caravans.) In this fire, Django received first- and second-degree burns over half his body. His right leg was paralysed and the third and fourth fingers of his left hand were badly burned. He was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane. And he relearned his guitar-playing skill … even though his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralysed. He played all of his guitar solos with only two fingers, and used the two injured digits for playing chords. This is an amazing fact, when you hear the speed, clarity and musicality of his guitar solos Between 1929 and 1933 Django abandoned the banjo-guitar for the classical guitar….. Django somehow was able to acquire an extraordinary guitar, a Selmer Maccaferri. This is a large body steel-string,