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.
Solitude
Django Reinhardt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You haunt me
With dreadful ease
Of days gone by
In my solitude
You taunt me
With memories
I sit in my chair
And filled with despair
There's no one could be so sad
With gloom everywhere
I sit and I stare
I know that I'll soon go mad
In my solitude
I'm afraid
Dear Lord above
Send back my love
I sit in my chair
Filled with despair
There's no one, no one
No onecould be so sad
With gloom everywhere
I sit and I stare
I know that I'll soon go mad
In my solitude
I'm afraid
Dear Lord above
Send back my love
Django Reinhardt's "Solitude" is a tender and melancholic song that speaks about one's experience with loneliness, heartbreak, and longing. The song begins with the singer expressing how their solitude is often haunted by painful memories of their past, which emotionally tortures them. The memories that never die consistently taunt and challenge them to confront their fears of abandonment and loneliness. In the next stanza, the singer emphasizes the extent of their despondency and despair, claiming that they are on the verge of madness. They sit and stare endlessly, hoping that their beloved will return to alleviate their pain and loneliness.
The last stanza of the song poignantly expresses a heartfelt plea to the heavens to send back their love. The singer's heartbreak reaches a peak here, showcasing their vulnerability and emotional distress. The singer puts his faith in a higher power and hopes that their heartfelt plea will be answered. At the end of the song, the audience is left with a sense of melancholy and emotional weight, emphasizing the harsh reality of heartbreak and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
In my solitude
When I am alone
You haunt me
Your memory is always present and it troubles me
With dreadful ease
As though it is effortless to disturb and distress me
Of days gone by
Of former times
You taunt me
Your memory teases and provokes me
With memories
With remembered moments
That never die
That persist and endure
I sit in my chair
I am seated and inactive
And filled with despair
And overwhelmed with hopelessness
There's no one could be so sad
No one could feel as sorrowful as I do
With gloom everywhere
With melancholy present in every aspect of my life
I know that I'll soon go mad
I am afraid that I will soon lose my sanity
In my solitude
When I am alone
I'm afraid
I am frightened
Dear Lord above
God in heaven
Send back my love
Please return my beloved to me
No one, no one
Absolutely nobody
Could be so sad
Could feel such profound sadness
With gloom everywhere
With melancholy present in every aspect of one's life
I'm afraid
I am frightened
Dear Lord above
God in heaven
Send back my love
Please return my beloved to me
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DUKE ELLINGTON, EDDIE LANGE DE, IRVING MILLS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Héctor Fuentes
Simplemente magistral...por siempre Django_Reinhardt
Bill G
Listening to this here at home doing the Stay in your Home bit during this Pandemic and I may be here by myself but this marvelous musician's work is truly lifting my spirit's here. Stay safe everyone
Ronnie Boucher
BUY A GUITAR !
judaspriestec
this is too beautiful, thanks for uploading
pers onne
enfin l'ouverture a tous les styles de musique est aussi essentielle pour pouvoir avoir un point de vue objectif , au niveau de la symphonie , de l'harmonie , ceci est largement mieux construit que nombre de sons actuels , cela ne les empechant pas de pouvoir etre au moins qualifié de bonne musique.
fridgemagnet
I LOVE pop,techno, drum and bass,dubstep,psy trance,rock,indy,bossa nova,folk,funk, hip hop and classical, but The Hot Club De France are my favourite band EVER!!!!
Mickael Robert
superbe merci Django
Quique David
Genio
Melissa Melissa
Kann immer hören
Yasmin Sayegh
This gets my feelings