Gypsy Jazz (Legacy of Django Reinhardt)

1

• Gypsy Jazz (Legacy of Django Reinhardt)
• / Juraj
  Havlík, III.D

2
/ manouche jazz? Django Reinhardt?

• manouche from the French term meaning gypsy
• also gypsy jazz / gypsy swing
• style of jazz attributed to a gypsy guitarist
  Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grapelli
  who founded the all strings jazz esemble - The
  Quintet du Hot Club de France, in the 1930s in
  Paris, France
• blending of gypsy musical elements with jazz
• gypsies have carried and preserved the musical
  legacy of Django Reinhardt

3
/ 1910 1953, Django Reinhardt

• 1910, Belgium / 1953, France
• guitar-banjo player in his youth
• later switched to the guitar after a near fatal
  injury when his caravan caught fire / forced
  him to approach his instrument differently than
  many conventional guitarists
• Django overcame his handicap
• 1929 1933 / with Stephane Grapelli he would
  jam together, along with a loose circle of other
  musicians
• 1934 / they were both invited to form the
  "Quintette du Hot Club de France / one of the
  few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of
  string instruments

4
/ 1910 1953, Django Reinhardt

• Django also played and recorded with many
  American jazz musicians / Coleman Hawkins,
  Benny Carter, Rex Stewart, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy
  Gillespie
• the quintet used the Selmer Maccaferri / the
  first commercially available guitars with a
  cutaway and later with an aluminium-reinforced
  neck
• after the war (Django survived the war, despite
  the Nazi regime's systematic murder of several
  hundred thousand European Romanis) he rejoined
  Grappelli in the UK
• / in 1946 he went to tour the United States
  as a special guest soloist with Duke Ellington
  and His Orchestra

5
/ 1910 1953, Django Reinhardt

• 1947 / Django returned to France / he spent
  the remainder of his days re-immersed in Romani
  life, having found it difficult to adjust to the
  modern world
• 1953 / Django collapsed from a brain
  haemorrhage

6
/ what makes this jazz gypsy

• although many instrumental lineups exist, a group
  including one lead guitar, violin, two rhythm
  guitars, and bass is often the norm
• gypsy jazz is a unique guitar discipline, and due
  to this, its associated with multiple techniques
  that are definitive of the sound of this music
• / rhythm / rhythm guitar in gypsy jazz
  uses a special form of strumming known as "la
  pompe
• / harmony / is based on the chord shapes
  Django was forced to use due to his injury
• / lead / playing in this style has been
  summarised as ornamented or decorated arpeggio

7
/ what makes this jazz gypsy

• / repertoire / gypsy jazz has its own set
  of frequently played standards, which are fairly
  distinct from the standards tunes of mainsteam
  jazz, however, contemporary ensembles may adapt
  almost any type of song to the style

8
/ gypsy jazz today

• Django invented an entirely new style of jazz
  guitar technique (sometimes called 'hot' jazz
  guitar) that has become a living musical
  tradition within French gypsy culture
• gypsy jazz has enjoyed a certain revival in a
  sense over the last decade, it can be attributed
  to a combination of factors
• / growing popularity of current generation
  players
• / a wider availability of access to gypsy
  jazz recordings
• / growing availability of Selmer-Macaferri
  guitars
• / growing number of Django festivals
  worldwide

9

• / thanks for Your attention