Friday jazz profile: Django Reinhardt, ingenuity and true adversity
Today, let's step way back into the wayback machine and have ourselves a listen and gander at the great Django Reinhardt. To the modern American ear, his music might sound particularly anachronistic, but I encourage everyone to listen (and read) widely. Without Django, there would be no such thing as lead guitar. Also, his music was really cool. Here's the deal. Django was a Belgian gypsy, playing guitar at a time before electrification. Prior to electrification, the only role for a guitar in a band was as a rhythm instrument. Why? Volume. The acoustic guitar just isn't as loud as, say, a horn. (Or a violin, as played by his partner, Stephane Grappelli.) Rhythm meant chords, chords, and more chords. And then tragedy struck. A caravan fire. Reinhardt was hurt. Badly. Now watch and listen. In particular, watch Django's left hand. Did you notice something about which fingers moved? That caravan fire did severe nerve damage to Django's left ring and pi