The fabulous and legendary guitarist, Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt was born in Belgium and grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris. When he was twelve, Django was given a banjo-guitar. At the age of 18, Django was badly burned on a caravan fire and suffered the loss of the use of two fingers on his left hand. Nonetheless, he overcame this handicap to become one of the world’s greatest guitar players. He was inspired by the music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and, in particular, Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti as well as the sounds of his own Gypsy heritage. Django’s backstage jam sessions with violinist Stéphane Grappelli spawned the Quintet of the Hot Club of France and the group’s first recordings were issued in 1934. Eventually, the Quintet of the Hot Club would record over 200 sides. World War II forced the break up of the Quintet, though Django and Grappelli would reunite from time to time. After the War, Reinhardt toured the U.S. with Duke Ellington and performed on the electric guitar, infusing his performances with bebop. He retired to a small village in France during his last years, dying suddenly of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 43. Django Reinhardt’s playing influenced Charlie Christian, Les Paul, and countless other guitarists. The critic Ralph Gleason once said of Django's recordings, "They were European and they were French and they were still jazz."
