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.
Doin' the New Low Down
Django Reinhardt Lyrics
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thrills me fills me with the pep I've got
I've got a pair of feet
That found a low down beat
Low down, down around a spot that's hot!
I've got no peace
Here's the how?
I'm tellin' you now to give in!
Oh, make 'em play that crazy thing again
I've gotta do that lazy swing again.
Heigh, ho, doin' the new low down.
I got my feet to misbehavin' now,
I got a soul that's not for savin' now.
Heigh, ho, doin' the new low down.
That dancin' demon has my feet in a trance,
'cause while I'm dreamin'
I go into that dance
And once you hear the haunting strain to it,
I'd like to bet you'll go insane to it.
Heigh, ho, doin' the new low down.
The lyrics to Django Reinhardt and Philippe Brun's song "Doin' the New Low Down" describe the thrill and energy of dancing to a "low down beat" in a hoppin' hotspot. The singer is not under the influence of alcohol, nor is it the presence of a particular "yaller gal" that fills them with a vibrant energy - it's the music itself. The energetic swing of the music takes over the singer's body and soul, compelling them to dance and lose themselves in the rhythm.
The singer, however, is not without problems. They describe losing their "lease on livin'" and feeling restless and without peace. But, the singer suggests that the solution to these problems is to give in to the music and the dance. They implore the band to play that "crazy thing" again, so they can do the "lazy swing" once more. The final stanza describes the singer as being under the spell of a "dancin' demon" which holds their feet in a trance. The music is so entrancing that the singer claims that anyone who hears it will go insane for the "new lowdown."
Overall, the lyrics describe the all-encompassing joy and escapism that comes from dancing to a particular kind of music with a specific rhythm ("low down"). The singer portrays themselves as being cursed and restive; however, the music and the dance - the "new low down" - offer a salvation of sorts, a respite from ordinary life.
Line by Line Meaning
It isn't alcohol no yaller gal at all thrills me fills me with the pep I've got
Alcohol and women don't excite me, it's the energy within me that's driving me.
I've got a pair of feet That found a low down beat Low down, down around a spot that's hot!
My feet have naturally picked up a rhythm that's sexy, playful and happening on the dance floor.
I've got no peace I'm losin' my lease on livin' Here's the how? I'm tellin' you now to give in!
I am restless and sick of monotony in life, urging you to let loose and give in to our dancing desires.
Oh, make 'em play that crazy thing again I've gotta do that lazy swing again. Heigh, ho, doin' the new low down.
The tune is driving me wild, begging the musician to play it again so I can indulge in my favorite lazy swing dance that defines the 'new low down.'
I got my feet to misbehavin' now, I got a soul that's not for savin' now. Heigh, ho, doin' the new low down.
My feet are going wild, my soul irrepressible as I indulge in the new low down dance.
That dancin' demon has my feet in a trance,'cause while I'm dreamin' I go into that dance
The spell of dance has put me in a trance- even in my dreams, I can't stop moving to the low down beat.
And once you hear the haunting strain to it, I'd like to bet you'll go insane to it. Heigh, ho, doin' the new low down.
If you can catch the rhythm of the haunting beat, I bet even you will lose yourself to the new low down dance like I have.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: DOROTHY FIELDS, JIMMY MC HUGH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind