There are also some improvised guitar choruses and solo takes on Django standards Nuages and Belleville, but here the recording quality slips a bit unfortunately. All together there are 15 tracks including some alternate takes of Improvisation 2 and the fairly well-known Echoes of Spain, Naguine, and Parfum.

Improvisation #3 and #5 are also fairly difficult while Improvisations #2 and #4 are approachable after some serious practice. The first, the fiery and completely pyrotechnic Improvisation #1 sets a high bar for any guitarist attempting to reproduce it. Over the course of his career Django recorded quite a few of these pieces and they are all represented here. Because that is what this disc contains, hence the name… In Solitaire. Highly recommended!ĭjango Reinhardt In Solitaire *** This disc is not for public consumption, but really serves as an aid for guitar players trying to learn Django’s playing style, specifically all of his solo improvisation pieces. While some Django veers toward unlistenable because of quality issues, the takes on this disc for the most part sound crisp and clear. In addition to the great combo of songs, the sound is pretty good considering the age and condition some of the masters. There are many introduction discs one could pick to get acquainted with the world’s first real guitar hero, but I believe this one fits the bill nicely.

Not only does this disc serve as a great primer for the casual listener who wants to “find out what Django was all about,” it also is a GREAT ILLUSTRATION of the breadth of his guitar playing abilities, chops, composition skill and the effect his playing had on all manner of player starting with people like Les Paul, Johnny Smith and Barney Kessel. The disc ends with Django’s amplified version of Night and Day that was recorded only months before his death and is one of my all-time favorite of his performances. There are also a few tunes from the “clarinet” era of the 1940s including the classic Nuages, the very gypsy-influenced Anniversary Song, and Swing 48. Of course, his very famous foil Stephane Grappelli is along on many of the tunes including the more famous Django/Stephane gems like Djangology, Love’s Melody, Belleville (one of the team’s original contributions to the jazz catalogue) and Liza. Starting with the earliest days of The Hot Club of France, this collection features 16 tunes including Django’s energetic, kinetic, and inventive takes on jazz standards of the day like Honeysuckle Rose and Sweet Georgia Brown, plus his own early creations like Daphné and H.C.Q Strut (a very underrated tune). Verve Jazz Masters 38 ***** My first Django Reinhardt disc and still one of my favorites, this retrospective collection has a ton of great performances that serve as a great introduction/overview of Django’s storied career. As you will see this turned into “quite a few discs” eventually, and while I wouldn’t claim to be any kind of expert on Django and his music, I will pretend I am for the remainder of this page at least. While I didn’t discover the beauty, wonder and power that is the music of Django Reinhardt until much later in life and career, it had a tremendous effect on me and I purchased a few discs and listened to them carefully.

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