Quote:
Originally Posted by All_Nite_Dinah
So does anyone else here like the gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhart? I read an interesting colum on him in the new New Yorker and I almost forgot how good he was. Well anyone else a fan?
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Do I like Django?? Well,I first heard a 4 track EP single of Django Reinhardt in 1970 in London , England. I was about 12 yrs old and had just started learning guitar. The recordings featured him playing with an electric pickup attached to his acoustic and i'll never forget the TONE that Reinhardt acheived...it was harsh, gritty, dynamic, almost 'punk' for 1948.It just cut me to shreds!! I sat with open mouthed amazement. He played "Nuages" with such beauty that it nearly had me in tears. I had to find out what he looked like. (not much info was available in 1970 on Reinhardt.)
I was astounded to learn that he only used his thumb and two fingers (mostly) on his left hand. How he did it, nobody knows but to this day i've read interviews with everyone from John McLaughlin, Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck,Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore,Keith Richards, Pat Metheny, Joe Pass, Jim Hall,George Benson, Barney Kessel, BB King..EVERY jazz/rock/blues guitar player except for perhaps jazz guitarist George Barnes (who didn't think that a European could play jazz) literally worships Django 53 years after his death.
To this day his sound is truly unique and i still am amazed by his artistry.