1938-39 film of Django Reinhardt-Stephane Grappelli

Dennis Smith · Post by **Dennis Smith** » 14 Mar 2013 11:33 am

Hi, the info is the film was made to promote Django's style of music in Great Britain before a tour in 38 or 39. Django's part start's at about 2:30. Great close up film of him playing. What he could do with just two fingers! Also Grappelli's playing is great.
Dennis

http://youtu.be/_fc3hffDNr8

Brandin · Post by **Brandin** » 14 Mar 2013 1:54 pm

Thanks, that was great!

GB

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 14 Mar 2013 2:28 pm

Tres cool. But dammit, looks like I'll need to take up smoking again.

Bud Angelotti · Post by **Bud Angelotti** » 14 Mar 2013 3:59 pm

Thanks for finging this!
At 1:15, the announcer says "In jazz music the execution is more important than the composition"
Hmmm

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 14 Mar 2013 5:21 pm

The first time I saw this, about 10 years ago, it made me cry. Holy cow, it just happened again....

Dennis Smith · Post by **Dennis Smith** » 14 Mar 2013 11:07 pm

Hi, glad you guys enjoyed it.

Mike, if you had a time machine how many nights a week would spend at the Hot Club?

Dennis

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 14 Mar 2013 11:21 pm

Love it. I bought a "Hot Club" LP over 40 years ago after reading about Django in a guitar magazine, and I was blown away when I heard it. Been hooked ever since. I like Grappelli's fluid playing as much, possibly more, than Django's!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 15 Mar 2013 4:09 am

Dennis Smith wrote:Hi, glad you guys enjoyed it.

Mike, if you had a time machine how many nights a week would spend at the Hot Club?

Dennis

I would be trying to get the gig playing rhythm guitar!

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 15 Mar 2013 8:10 am

Amazing.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 15 Mar 2013 8:18 am

Still pure magic. For all the great guitarists who have surpassed him in chops and harmonic knowledge Django's creativity and poetry are STILL unrivaled. I always enjoyed Stephane's violin playing but after I heard Stuff Smith, Grappelli began to sound over-decorated for my taste.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 15 Mar 2013 8:18 am

Still pure magic. For all the great guitarists who have surpassed him in chops and harmonic knowledge Django's creativity and poetry are STILL unrivaled. I always enjoyed Stephane's violin playing but after I heard Stuff Smith, Grappelli began to sound over-decorated for my taste.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 15 Mar 2013 8:37 am

Oscar Aleman is really the only other guitarist from the time who could rival Django. I was in a record store when I was about 19, looking for some more Django records, when the owner of the shop said to me, "If you like Django, you'll like this better." I'm not sure I liked it better, but he had a big impact on me.

This is Russian Lullaby from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Z_UL48zQw

Whispering (solo guitar) from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoykvVCir50

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 16 Mar 2013 5:05 pm

Mike Neer wrote:Oscar Aleman is really the only other guitarist from the time who could rival Django. I was in a record store when I was about 19, looking for some more Django records, when the owner of the shop said to me, "If you like Django, you'll like this better." I'm not sure I liked it better, but he had a big impact on me.

This is Russian Lullaby from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Z_UL48zQw

Whispering (solo guitar) from 1939:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoykvVCir50

Thanks, Mike....what a great find! Just reading up on how he and Django used to jam together in Django's "wagon."

Dave Biller · Post by **Dave Biller** » 17 Mar 2013 5:53 pm

I'll never forget the first time I saw this film. It was 1998 and my reaction was very similar to Mike's, completely overcome with emotion. It was an absolute epiphany and it immediately changed everything about how I thought about and played music. I played my guitar for 12 hours that night. I was never the same again and went directly to the woodshed for about 5 years, totally lost in the world of gypsy guitar. The only other time that ever happened was the evening I first sat down at a pedal steel guitar and proceeded to play it until noon the next day. True story.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 18 Mar 2013 2:59 am

as much as Jazz was considered decadent musik by the nazis, Django was pretty much at the height of his career during the war in occupied Paris
http://www.paulvernonchester.com/DjangoWW2.htm

here's a vid that was posted here a while back on Django's guitbox
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeSo66p7 ... ded#at=111[/b]

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 18 Mar 2013 7:33 am

I can highly recommend two terrific books by Django expert Michael Dregni ...

Violinist of former head of the Berklee college of music has been the keeper of Grappelli's violin case since his death. He recently gave the case to a fellow player and inside was ... Django's scarf. We need the musical version of Jurassic Park!