Guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) cuts a dashing,
romantic figure with a great story that at times obscures his extraordinary
achievements and influence. Here is a Roma Gypsy, born in a caravan, who
learned playing the violin, the banjo, and the guitar as a child. He then lost
the use of two fingers on his left hand in a fire, and yet went on to become an
extraordinary player who redefined the sound and role of the guitar.
Musicians know. As a composer and improviser, Reinhardt’s
brilliance for melodic invention, his harmonic ingenuity and rhythmic drive,
has awed and inspired fellow guitarists across genres and styles, from Andrés
Segovia, Chet Atkins, BB King, and Les Paul, to Willie Nelson, Keith Richards
and Jimi Hendrix.
And yet, as French-born, US-based guitarist and composer
Stephane Wrembel’s Django L'Impressionniste reveals, there is more to Reinhardt
than swing and the allure of what came to be called Gypsy Jazz. Putting the
spotlight on 17 little-known solo pieces Reinhardt recorded between 1937 and
1950, Wrembel reveals a different side of Django. The album, which features
liner notes by David Fricke, was released on October 18 on CD, vinyl and
digital on his own Water Is Life imprint.
Fans of Wrembel, perhaps best known for his all-star Django
a Gogo festival, will be able to hear the collected works in a U.S.debut
concert on November 21 at FIAF Florence Gould Hall in New York City.
For Wrembel, the first interpreter who has performed all
the solo pieces by Reinhardt and collected them here in one definitive
masterwork, this is a portrait of the classical Reinhardt, the admirer of
Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, the Gypsy impressionist.
“Everyone knows that he recorded a few solo pieces, but they
are scattered all over the place and the sound quality of many of them is
really bad,” explains Wrembel. “But it's an incredible repertoire. ‘Tea For
Two’ is a swinging jazz Django, with a classical harmonies feel; ‘Improvisation
1’ and ‘Improvisation 2’ are more like complete impressionist preludes. But
‘Improvisation No. 5’ has more of a baroque twist to it, and ends up like
Spanish guitar. It´s hard to classify. I hear it as classical music on the
guitar. But it is not your standard classical guitar music. It's closer to pure
creation and to the spirit of the guitar than any other guitar music I've ever
heard. I've never played anything like this.”
Wrembel dislikes the facile “Gypsy jazz” label for
Reinhardt’s music.
“I know what jazz is. Django is Django. I don't know how to
categorize him,” he says “Django was born in 1910 and when he grew up, the
music scene in Paris was Debussy and Ravel, the Impressionists, and he's part
of that. But he's also a guitarist, so he has that Spanish classical guitar in
him as well. And also jazz and swing arrives from America, he loves Louis
Armstrong and he gets that, plus he's a gypsy so he's been initiated into
traditional gypsy music. When you see the level of control and sophistication
of the harmony on these pieces, you realize jazz is just an amusement for him.”
That said, “most people who are interested in Django,
especially musicians, are interested in his jazz recordings, his swing stuff,”
acknowledges Wrembel. “This is a very difficult repertoire. These pieces are
very hard to learn, and very hard to play.”
Still, in 2017 Wrembel decided to open his annual Django a
Gogo concert with “Improvisation 1” and in the process of transcribing it,
learning it and performing it, he got hooked — and ended up working on the
pieces comprising Django L’Impressionniste for the next three years.
“At first I thought: 'OK, I might as well learn
‘Improvisation No. 2’ and then it was 'Wait! What an incredible repertoire.
What if I try to learn it all? ' And I became obsessed with it and it became a
full-blown investigation. I ended up collecting all of them. It’s an hour and
seven minutes of music.”
The music in Django L’Impressionniste includes a solo
version of his masterpiece “Nuages” and a Ravel-influenced reading of
“Belleville,” the last two solo pieces he recorded, in 1950, as well as a
version of the standard “Tea for Two,” but otherwise, there is nothing standard
about the forms of these songs, Reinhardt’s harmonic choices or the shape of
his melodic lines.
Reinhardt recorded the original solo pieces in various settings
and for different purposes. Some suggest warm-ups in recording studios, but
then, one was recorded live at the Civic Opera House, Chicago, on November 10,
1946; the two improvised guitar choruses of 1937 and “Improvisation 6” were
recorded for radio broadcasts; but the two extended works,
"Belleville" and "Nuages," were to be part of a film
soundtrack. Stylistically, the one thing in common is that none of these pieces
or these performances sound anything like the pulsating music of Django’s famed
Quintet of the Hot Club du France.
Each of these miniatures (most of them are around three and
half minutes long) is its own universe. None of them follow conventional song
forms and, as in the best improvisations, it is often hard to tell what, if
anything, is a spur-of-the-moment invention and what is composed. In fact,
Wrembel notes that even though some of the pieces carry utilitarian titles such
as “Improvisation 4,” that doesn’t necessarily mean these were just impromptu
performances.
“’Improvisation 2’ has been recorded three times,” notes
Wrembel. “I have the three different versions and only the ending really is
different. So it might have started as someone saying 'Django, do you want to
improvise something on the guitar at the end of a session?' and so he plays —
but that doesn't mean he just sat there and made something up on the spot. He
is playing something that he probably has been preparing for years. It's
obvious when you start learning it.”
Born in Paris and raised in Fontainebleau, the home of
Impressionism and Django Reinhardt, Wrembel first studied classical piano,
beginning at the age of four. But in his mid-teens, he discovered an affinity
for the guitar. A Pink Floyd fan, he “spent hours learning David Gilmour’s style,”
he said. “So I had a classical background, a passion for rock music, and then I
found out about Django. I fell in love with the very strong impressionist feel
in his music.”
Fittingly, Wrembel’s breakthrough came with “Bistro Fada,” a
Django-influenced swinging waltz that was the theme song from the
GRAMMY-winning soundtrack to Woody Allen’s 2011 Oscar-winning film, Midnight In
Paris. Since, Wrembel has released five discs dedicated to the guitarist (The
Django Reinhardt Experiment Vol. I-IV; and Live at Rochester) and recently
produced the debut CD by Simba Baumgartner, Django’s great-grandson, all on his
own Water is Life label. His Django a Gogo festival, anchored in his home base
of Maplewood, NJ, has become one of the world’s most important and influential
events, both celebrating and expanding Django’s music. The festival, launched
in 2004, started as a guitar music camp but has now grown to a week of events
capped by an all-star guitar celebration at New York’s iconic Town Hall. The
upcoming Town Hall celebration is set for May 9, 2020.
“Django Reinhardt is an absolutely fascinating mystery,”
reflects Wrembel. He is one of those Great Masters. To me, Django is to the
guitar what Bach is to the keyboard. If you play the piano – I don’t care who you
are or what style you play -- you study Bach. If you play saxophone, you’ve got
to study Charlie Parker. That is Django’s place on the guitar.”
U.S. CONCERT DEBUT
Thursday, November 21 at 7:30pm
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St.
New York, NY 10022
