Born in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium into a family of Manouche Gypsies, Jean Reinhardt learned to play several instruments such as the banjo, violin and guitar from an early age; he spent most of his youth in Gypsy encampments close to Paris. His family made a living from crafting furniture, but included several amateur musicians who inspired Reinhardt. Eventually, Reinhardt was given a banjo-guitar, at which point he stopped playing the violin. During this period, he was inspired by two older Gypsy musicians, Gusti Mahla and Jean Castro. Able to make a living from his music from his teen years onwards playing in bal-musette halls in Paris, Reinhardt received little formal education until his adult life; he was taught the rudiments of literacy by fellow band member Stéphane Grappelli.
At the age of eighteen, Reinhardt was injured in a fire that ravaged the caravan he shared with Florine "Bella" Mayer, his first wife. They were very poor, and to supplement their income Bella made imitation flowers out of celluloid and paper; consequently, their home was full of this highly inflammable material. Returning from a performance late one night, Django apparently knocked over a candle on his way to bed. While his family and neighbors were quick to pull him to safety, he received first- and second-degree burns over half his body. His right leg was paralyzed and the third and fourth fingers of his left hand were badly burnt. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again and intended to amputate one of his legs. Reinhardt refused to have the surgery and left the hospital after a short time; he was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane.
His brother Joseph Reinhardt, an accomplished guitarist himself, bought Django a new guitar. With painful rehabilitation and practice, Reinhardt relearned his craft in a completely new way, even as his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralyzed. Hence, he played all of his guitar solos with only two fingers, and managed to use the two injured digits only for chord work. After regaining his ability to play, Reinhardt resumed his career playing Parisian cafes. According to one story, during his period of recovery, Reinhardt was introduced to the aesthetics of American jazz when he purchased a 78rpm disc of "Dallas Blues" by Louis Armstrong at an Orléans flea market.
In 1934, Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stéphane Grappelli were approached by hot club chief Pierre Nourry with the idea of forming a forming a new hot club group. Thus, the Quintette du Hot Club de France was formed, with Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput on guitar, and Louis Vola on double bass. Occasionally, Chaput was replaced by Reinhardt's best friend and fellow Gypsy Pierre "Baro" Ferret. As the group had no true percussion section, percussion was instead provided by the group's guitarists; the Quintette du Hot Club de France thus became one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of string instruments.
Jean Sablon was the first singer to record with the Quintette, resulting in more than thirty collaborations from 1933 onwards. Vocalist Freddy Taylor participated on a few songs, such as "Georgia on My Mind" and "Nagasaki". A long line of recordings for Decca, HMV and Ultraphone ensured long-lasting international success for the Quintette.
As a composer, Reinhardt wrote several influential, highly original tunes recorded by the Quintette, ranging from the dulcet ballads "Daphne", "Nuages", and "Manoir de mes rêves", to mad swingers such as "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the 1930s, "Stomping at Decca". With the passing of time, many of his songs became jazz standards in their own right.
Reinhardt also experimented with recordings outside the "comfort zone" of the Quintette; in March 1933 Reinhardt recorded two takes each of "Parce que je vous aime" and "Si, j'aime Suzy", vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and great guitar support, using three guitarists along with an accordion lead, violin, and bass. In August of the following year, recordings were also made with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Django), including the first recording by the Quintette. In both years, it should be noted, the great majority of recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, etc.
Throughout his career, Reinhardt played and recorded with many American jazz legends such as Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris), and a led a jam-session and radio performance with Louis Armstrong. Later in his career, he performed with Dizzy Gillespie in France.
The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years he led a big band, another quintet with clarinettist Hubert Rostaing in place of Grappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazz artists as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko, and Ray McKinley. In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with the Duke Ellington Band, but his appearances were poorly received.
Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in January 1946, Reinhardt and Grappelli held several sporadic reunions where the bop influences were more subtly integrated into the old swing format of the glory days of the Quintette. In the 1950s, Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording sporadically until his death from a stroke on 16 May 1953 in Fontainebleau, France.
A-Tisket a-Tasket
Django Reinhardt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A green and yellow basket
I bought a basket for my mommie
On the way I dropped it
I dropped it, I dropped it
Yes on the way I dropped it
A little girlie picked it up
And took it to the market
Avenue without a single thing to do
She was peck, peck, peckin' all around
When she spied it on the ground
A-Tisket A-Tasket
She took my yellow basket
And if she doesn't bring it back
I think that I shall die
(Was it red?)
No, no, no, no
(Was it brown?)
No, no, no, no
(Was it blue)
No, no, no, no
Just a little yellow basket
The song 'A-Tisket A-Tasket' by Django Reinhardt is about a young girl who while walking with a green and yellow basket she had bought for her mother dropped it. As she was frantically looking for her basket, a little girl saw it and picked it up. She took the basket to the market while dancing and swinging around with it. The main singer then comes in worried about what had happened to the basket he had just bought for his mother. In his worry, he starts to sing out ‘A tisket a tasket, a green and yellow basket, I sent a letter to my baby, And on the way, I dropped it. I dropped it, I dropped it, yes, on the way, I dropped it. He then sings about how a little girl picked it up and walked away with it, stating that if the girl doesn't bring back his basket, he won't be able to survive. The chorus repeats itself as viewers are left with the question of whether the girl will bring the basket back or not.
The significance of the song is that it was inspired by an African-American nursery rhyme. The melody and lyrics were composed by Ella Fitzgerald and Al Feldman, and Django Reinhardt reworked it into a gypsy jazz masterpiece. The song has also been suggested to reference the tradition of the May Day basket, a holiday where children would fill baskets with flowers and drop them off at friends’ homes. It quickly became a hit in the United States and made its way across Europe, even being featured in several films.
The song ‘A-Tisket A-Tasket’ has been staged in several movies like "Wolf of Wall Street” and “I'm Gonna Git You Sucka”. Other interesting facts about the song include:
Line by Line Meaning
A-Tisket A-Tasket
The beginning of the song, serves as the title of the piece.
A green and yellow basket
The singer purchased a basket that was both green and yellow in color.
I bought a basket for my mommie
The reason for purchasing the basket was to give it as a gift to the singer's mother.
On the way I dropped it
While on the way to give the basket to his mother, the artist dropped it.
I dropped it, I dropped it
The artist is repeating the fact that they dropped the basket, perhaps indicating their frustration or disappointment.
Yes on the way I dropped it
A confirmation that the basket was indeed dropped.
A little girlie picked it up
After dropping the basket, a young girl picked it up.
And took it to the market
The girl took the basket to the market with her.
She was truckin' on down the Avenue without a single thing to do
The little girl was walking down the avenue with nothing in particular to do.
She was peck, peck, peckin' all around
The girl was walking around, possibly looking for things to pick up.
When she spied it on the ground
While walking around, the girl saw the basket on the ground.
A-Tisket A-Tasket
The singer repeats the name of the song after the girl finds the basket.
She took my yellow basket
The girl takes the singer's yellow basket.
And if she doesn't bring it back
The singer is worried that the girl won't bring the basket back to him.
I think that I shall die
The singer is being dramatic, suggesting that if the girl does not bring the basket back, he will die.
(Was it red?)
The artist is being asked if the basket was red in color.
(No, no, no, no)
The artist responds that the basket was not red.
(Was it brown?)
The singer is being asked if the basket was brown in color.
(No, no, no, no)
The singer responds that the basket was not brown.
(Was it blue)
The artist is being asked if the basket was blue in color.
(No, no, no, no)
The artist responds that the basket was not blue.
Just a little yellow basket
The artist confirms that the lost basket was a small, yellow basket.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ELLA FITZGERALD, VAN ALEXANDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MartyKay
Cruising thru Lost Heaven with this song is just beautiful ❤
@PirateAdmiral-bx6sx
Same
@DGuitarbite
tears.....what a song......
@Don_Salieri1899
Mafia 1
@PirateAdmiral-bx6sx
Same it's what brought me here
@davidwalker5054
To call django a jazz guitarist is an insult to him he was much more than that he was thee guitarist
@anorexiczebra0809
This is the version that I will always prefer. No offense, Ella!