Django Reinhardt - Django in Rome 1949 - 1950 - 4 CD Box Set
Django Reinhardt - Django in Rome 1949 - 1950 - 4 CD Box Set
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$29.99
Product Notes
By the time these recordings were made, Django had toured the US and made his last recordings with the original Hot Club de France. There was to be one last set of sessions with Stephane Grappelli - which forms the bulk of the first three albums of this collection. The sessions arose from an engagement at a Roman club - the Rupe Tarpea. Reinhardt and Grappelli took it when no other work was on offer. The pair had to face two realities. First, their wartime separation had led to new directions and collaborations. Second, their dwindling audiences wanted to hear their hits - making any evolution difficult. The first cut, Over The Rainbow perhaps defines the Django/Stephane relationship: Grappelli struts his stuff as a lead-in to Django's more agile pyrotechnics. And even as Django supplies rhythm support he can't resist interjections that show him to be the boss and the master of his instrument. Ironically, on the second track - Night And Day Grappelli is much more able than Django to extract pathos from a haunting tune. The stars are reworking some material. For example, Django had recorded a different version of Night And Day with trumpeter Rex Stewart in 1947. And the pre-war Hot Club had recorded Nagasaki, Minor Swing, Sweet Georgia Brown and Swing '39. But this is refinement, not repetition. And Manoir de Mes Reves here was the last time Reinhardt and Grappelli would record together. No dramatic bust-up. Possibly both men felt they had nowhere else to go. Django returned to Rome in 1950 with changes. Grappelli is replaced by alto player André Ekyan and Django is playing an electric guitar. The Italian backing musicians are more than competent, but this is entirely Ekyan and Reinhardt's show - pianist Schécroun is not planning anything attention grabbing, and the rhythm section... supplies rhythm. There's some fine solo work here from Django and Ekyan who frequently revisit material. No harm in that. Anything by Django merits repeated listening.
Track Listings
- Disc 1
- 1Over the Rainbow
- 2Night and Day
- 3Minor Blues
- 4Nature Boy
- 5The World Is Waiting for the Sunshine
- 6Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir
- 7Hallelujah
- 8Nagasaki
- 9I'll Never Be the Same
- 10Swing '39
- 11Clopin Clopant
- 12Honeysuckle Rose
- 13All the Things You Are
- 14Djangology
- 15Liza
- 16For Sentimental Reasons
- 17Daphne
- 18La Mer
- 19Sweet Georgia Brown
- 20Lover Man
- 21Marie
- 22Stormy Weather
- 23Minor Swing
- Disc 2
- 1To Each His Own
- 2What Is This Thing Called Love
- 3Ou Es-Tu Mon Amour
- 4Undecided
- 5Swing '42
- 6I Surrender Dear
- 7After You've Gone
- 8
- 9I Saw Stars
- 10Artillerie Lourde
- 11It's Only a Paper Moon
- 12Time On My Hands
- 13Brick Top
- 14Tchaikovsky's Starry Night
- 15My Blue Heaven
- 16Menilmontant
- 17Swing Guitars
- 18My Melancholy Baby
- 19Webster
- 20Micro
- 21Micro
- 22Dream of You
- 23Begin the Beguine
- Disc 3
- 1How High the Moon (With Helen Forrest)
- 2Nuages
- 3I Can't Get Started
- 4I Can't Give You Anything But Love
- 5The Man I Love
- 6The Peanut Vendor
- 7Just a Gigolo
- 8Troublant Bolero
- 9Rosetta
- 10Blue Skies
- 11It Might As Well Be Spring
- 12Blue Lou
- 13Brazil
- 14What a Difference a Day Made
- 15Pigalle
- 16Manoir De Mes Reves
- 17Improvisation No. 4
- 18Anniversary Song
- 19Stormy Weather
- 20Russian Songs Melody
- 21Jersey Bounce
- Disc 4
- 1Dinette
- 2Sophisticated Lady
- 3Micro
- 4Dream of You
- 5Nuages
- 6Darktown Strutter's Ball
- 7Greig's Norwegian Dance
- 8A Tisket a Tasket
- 9Manoir De Mes Reves
- 10Place De Brouckere
- 11September Song
- 12Royal Garden Blues
- 13St Louis Blues
- 14Sweet Georgia Brown
- 15Minor Swing
- 16Double Whisky
- 17Artillerie Lourde
- 18St James' Infirmary
- 19C Jam Blues
- 20Honeysuckle Rose
- 21Debussy's Reverie
- 22Black Night
- 23Boogie Woogie