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 rĂŞves", 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.
I´m Confessin
Django Reinhardt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me, do you love me too?
I'm confessin' that I need you,
Honest I do, need you every moment.
In your eyes I read such strange things,
But your lips deny they're true,
Will your answer really change things
Making me blue?
I'm afraid some day you'll leave me,
Saying "can't we still be friends"
If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
All in life on you depends.
Am I guessin' that you love me,
Dreaming dreams of you in vain,
I'm confessin' that I love you, over again.
The lyrics of Django Reinhardt/Stéphane Grappelli's song "I'm Confessin'" express the singer's love and need for someone and their fear of losing them. The singer is confessing or admitting their love, and asking if the other person feels the same. The person's eyes give the singer hope, but their lips deny any true feelings. The singer is hoping that the other person's answer will not make them sad.
The singer is afraid that the other person will leave them and want to just be friends. They have placed their entire life and happiness on this person, and they cannot imagine them leaving. The singer is unsure if the other person loves them back, but they continue to dream about them.
Overall, the song emphasizes the vulnerability and uncertainty that comes with confessing one's love. It highlights the importance of communication and understanding between two people in a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm confessin' that I love you,
I am admitting that I am deeply in love with you.
Tell me, do you love me too?
I am asking if you reciprocate my love for you.
I'm confessin' that I need you,
I am admitting my dependency on you and how much you mean to me.
Honest I do, need you every moment.
I truly need you in my life every single moment without any exaggeration.
In your eyes I read such strange things,
I get mixed or unclear signals from your eyes that I cannot quite decipher.
But your lips deny they're true,
Your words contradict what I read in your eyes, you seem to be hiding the truth.
Will your answer really change things
I am curious if your response to my confession will alter the dynamics between us.
Making me blue?
I fear your response might make me sad or disappointed.
I'm afraid some day you'll leave me,
I fear that one day you will suddenly decide to abandon me.
Saying "can't we still be friends"
You might say let's just be friends instead of being romantically involved.
If you go, you know you'll grieve me,
If you decide to leave me, I will be deeply saddened.
All in life on you depends.
My happiness and fulfillment in life depends solely on you being in my life.
Am I guessin' that you love me,
I am not sure if my assumption that you love me is correct.
Dreaming dreams of you in vain,
I am daydreaming about you, but they are futile if you don't reciprocate my feelings.
I'm confessin' that I love you, over again.
I am expressing my love for you once more.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: AL J NEIBURG, DOC DAUGHERTY, ELLIS REYNOLDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Ludwig_Cox
Nice đź‘Ť
@MrJesusisreal
very nice
@tubi333
third!
@enana73
first!
@enana73
excellent music, by the way! thank you for sharing!
@optimisticprime8651
But not the omega ;)