Music Monday ~ "Django"

A musical birthday today: "Django" Reinhardt's, he was born on 23 January, 1910, died in 1953.

A violinist first, guitarist later, Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style.

A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with Stephane Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil. Although he could not read music, with Grappelli and on his own, Reinhardt composed several highly original tunes.
(See allmusic.com)


See also my 2007 post : Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt - A Magical but Unlikely Pair of Aquarians

ASTROLOGY

Django Reinhardt, born on 23 January 1910 in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, at 10:00 PM according to Astrodatabank, with a "B" rating - not 100% reliable but it'll suffice for this purpose.

Moon conjunct creative Neptune was in Moon's rulership sign Cancer. Eccentric Uranus was in Capricorn, oppposite Moon/Neptune, and just out of range to be considered conjunct Sun in Aquarius. So Django had near enough a classic planetary lineup for a jazz artist - creative eccentricity brought to earth sufficiently to ensure a skilled outlet. Venus, the musical planet is tightly sextile (helpful aspect) Mars in Taurus, reflecting his dynamic musical style.

There's a Grand Cross in his natal chart linking Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter, this configuration usually signifies some kind of ongoing inner conflict, possibly manifesting in Django's case as his unreliability and tendency to be unpredictable.

Here with The Hot Club of France:



Below, one of Django's own compositions Nuages (Clouds). The person who uploaded this video at YouTube wrote:

This was done just weeks before he died.
I recall the original liner notes, written by Charles Delauney ( a friend of D.R) stating that there was a "certain ennui about the session" ..a sadness and premonition that Django had that he didn't have long. Delauney stated that it was the most emotional version of "Nuages" ever done.