Search - Django Reinhardt :: First Recordings (Django Reinhardt)

Some of the most ingenious guitar playing ever recorded

07/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD contains, as the title implies, the earliest recordings of Django & The Quintet of the Hot Club of France. The primitive nature of 1930s recording technology is reflected in the sound quality, especially the fluttery background noise in the first few tracks. But the incredible playing more than compensates. This CD shows Django playing standards of the day like you have never heard them before or since, with mind-numbing dexterity and energy. What's even more amazing is that he does this with acoustic guitar, and only two fingers on his left hand (the other fingers were badly burned in a fire). Django is to '30s jazz guitar what Jimi Hendrix is to '60s rock guitar. If you want to hear one of the greatest geniuses of jazz guitar (and guitar in general), get this record."