Django on Electric Guitar. I LOVE IT! :-)

[Mace]

hey guys, yesterday i bought a new django cd which features some tunes him playing the electric guitar. and i love it! to be honest: call me judas, but i love it more than his classic gypsy style in europe. it seems to me, that he sound a little bit more influenced by american bebop. anyway, i love his recordings with the electric guitar. do you know if there are some LP or bootlegs from him with the electric guitar? and what do you think about it or do you know more about his e"lectric-period". This what i found on our site: "Django Reinhardt used an Epiphone Zephyr #3442 (other sources say a Gibson L5) with a DeArmond pickup hooked to an Epiphone amplifier for a short time during his tour with Duke Ellington 1946. After that tour he never played electric again (see Django Reinhardt's bio for more about this)." thanks guys and have a great weekend!

[Mace]

Okay, I found the first LP: Amazon.com: The Electric Years: Django Reinhardt: Music

[JohnRosett]

You should read "Django-The life and music of a Gypsy legend" by Michael Dregni. There's alot of info on Django's electric playing and his trip to the U.S. According to This book, Django grew to dislike the archtop guitars and had someone bring his Selmer from France. After WWII, he mostly played his Selmer with a Stimer pickup screwed onto the top. The book also talks about Django's interest in Bebop and post-swing Jazz.

[Mace]

Originally Posted by JohnRosett

You should read "Django-The life and music of a Gypsy legend" by Michael Dregni. There's alot of info on Django's electric playing and his trip to the U.S. According to This book, Django grew to dislike the archtop guitars and had someone bring his Selmer from France. After WWII, he mostly played his Selmer with a Stimer pickup screwed onto the top. The book also talks about Django's interest in Bebop and post-swing Jazz.

Hi John, That's sounds great! I love bio's from artists. I can imagine, that he dislikes the archtop guitars, but its sad, I really love that archtop sound. but it really changed his sound.

[ES125er]

Originally Posted by JohnRosett

According to This book, Django grew to dislike the archtop guitars and had someone bring his Selmer from France. After WWII, he mostly played his Selmer with a Stimer pickup screwed onto the top.

Truth.
If I remember correctly, Django used an archtop guitar for a single recording session: the Rome session of 1950. All his other "electric" recordings are a Selmer guitar with a Stimer magnetic pickup.

[Mace]

Originally Posted by ES125er

Truth.
If I remember correctly, Django used an archtop guitar for a single recording session: the Rome session of 1950. All his other "electric" recordings are a Selmer guitar with a Stimer magnetic pickup.

I found an interesting page with great notes and pics from the stimer pickup: Django & Stimer

[JohnRosett]

Here's a quote from the book-Charles Delaunay has just brought Django's Selmer from France:
"Django swooned when he got his hands on the Selmer. "My brother", he said to Delaunay, "all the Americans wish they could play on this guitar! At least it's got tone, you can hear the chords like you can on the piano. Don't talk to me any more about their tinpot guitars! Listen to this, it speaks like a cathedral!"".

[JohnRosett]

YouTube - Django Reinhardt - Blues for Ike

[Mace]

Originally Posted by JohnRosett

Here's a quote from the book-Charles Delaunay has just brought Django's Selmer from France:
"Django swooned when he got his hands on the Selmer. "My brother", he said to Delaunay, "all the Americans wish they could play on this guitar! At least it's got tone, you can hear the chords like you can on the piano. Don't talk to me any more about their tinpot guitars! Listen to this, it speaks like a cathedral!"".

he, he hard words from django! but i must be honest, i am more into his us-stuff, because i am not that (20's) swing guy and i really really dont like violin in the early hot club recordings. but i love the guitar play of django in any period. but i prefer the us-band

[Norman931]

The recordings made just before his death in '53 are fantastic. I don't know what type guitar he played, but it was certainly plugged in; very electric sound. There is a wonderful drummer on these songs as well, something I miss when listening to the old Hot Club stuff.

[Mace]

Originally Posted by Norman931

The recordings made just before his death in '53 are fantastic. I don't know what type guitar he played, but it was certainly plugged in; very electric sound. There is a wonderful drummer on these songs as well, something I miss when listening to the old Hot Club stuff.

oh yes norman, i know what you mean! another really big plus is a vibraphone player on some track. just because i love the sound of the vibraphone

[Gambrosius1984]

Django's final recordings in 1953 were my favorite. I am pretty sure he used the stimer on his selmer for that one. Anyway, I love how Django was always able to absorb the new music and influences around him and grow as a player. He is my favorite guitarist and he always reminded me of Coltrane or Miles, always absorbing and going further in their music and souls. Django started out very old time jazz, then moved into the modern swing era playing with more big bands, then adopted the bop tempos and style until finally reaching his peak in 53' to become the ultimate modern jazz Django in every aspect.

Some people tend to not go beyond his early hot club years, saying they were his peak. The were fantastic years in everyway, but his final years you really got to see him grow. A lot of people who want to sound like him feel they have to play more gypsy, but Django already was a gypsy and strived to play better jazz .

If you like his electric years, check out some of the gypsy player that came of age after he passed away. I have another thread, http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/playe...dark-ages.html , it has the link to a great website with tons of great Django photos and gypsy jazz player recordings that were lost in the years immediately following Django. Here is a cool pic from the site of Django in Switzerland 53', one of his final performances.

[princeplanet]

I started a thread a while back about how Django's playing and sound was almost "Rockabilly!" on some live 46-48 dates where he was apparently using the Epiphone he picked up in the States. This period is also my favorite of his. Definitely bop inspired, but back to C Christian roots, hence the western swing/rockabilly edge some of his solos had. Most exciting guitar I've ever heard.

[ES125er]

For reference, here are two examples of Selmac guitars played with a magnetic single coil pickup and plugged into a tube amplifier:

Stochelo Rosenberg (Stimer pickup, I think):

YouTube Video

Reinier Voet (DeArmond "Guitar Mike"):

YouTube Video

I really like Reinier's tone and style.

[monk]

Originally Posted by Mace

he, he hard words from django! but i must be honest, i am more into his us-stuff, because i am not that (20's) swing guy and i really really dont like violin in the early hot club recordings. but i love the guitar play of django in any period. but i prefer the us-band

The Quintet of the Hot Club of France was formed and first recorded in 1934, not in the 20s.

While there are known concert recordings made with the Ellington Orchestra during his US visit, he did not formally record in the States due to restrictions in his work visa and nonmembership in the American musician's union.

The Selmer with the Stimer PU was his preferred "electric" guitar for his later recordings. It certainly had a unique tone not found in American archtops.

Regards,
monk

[Mace]

Originally Posted by Gambrosius1984

Some people tend to not go beyond his early hot club years, saying they were his peak. The were fantastic years in everyway, but his final years you really got to see him grow. A lot of people who want to sound like him feel they have to play more gypsy, but Django already was a gypsy and strived to play better jazz .

If you like his electric years, check out some of the gypsy player that came of age after he passed away. I have another thread, http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/playe...dark-ages.html , it has the link to a great website with tons of great Django photos and gypsy jazz player recordings that were lost in the years immediately following Django. Here is a cool pic from the site of Django in Switzerland 53',

wow, great post! i absolutely think the same. and thank you so much for the list of guitarist that turn electric. i will definitively check them out!

@ES125er: sounds great. and it has lot distortion

Originally Posted by princeplanet

I started a thread a while back about how Django's playing and sound was almost "Rockabilly!" on some live 46-48 dates where he was apparently using the Epiphone he picked up in the States. This period is also my favorite of his. Definitely bop inspired, but back to C Christian roots, hence the western swing/rockabilly edge some of his solos had. Most exciting guitar I've ever heard.

hi prince! what to mean with the rockabilly sound, his playing/licks or the sound of the amp, guitar?

[princeplanet]

Originally Posted by Mace

w

hi prince! what to mean with the rockabilly sound, his playing/licks or the sound of the amp, guitar?

Both!

[AndyV]

I'm with you. I much prefer Django's later recordings on electric where the poetry of gypsy playing was supplanted by more modern jazz and even free improvisatory ideas. His recordings with Hubert Rostaing on clarinet are fabulous but that last '53 session with Pierre Michelot on bass and Martial Solal on piano are untouchable. My favorite collection of those recordings is this one: Amazon.com: Peche à la Mouche: Django Reinhardt: Music. Must be out of print given the high price. I'm not condoning downloads but it's also available here: Musica dal pianeta terra: Django Reinhardt - Peche à La Mouche (1947-1953 Verve).

Love the edge of distortion on Rosenberg's video. He really has that sound dialed in.

[daveg]

Django brought an Epiphone back to Paris after the USA tour and played it to death. He can be seen playing it in some video.

The same Epiphone was given to Fred Sharp by Babik and it returned to the USA where it was refurbished but never played by Fred because of neck problems.

Look at the Fremaux label for all Django recordings (chronological) the electric material begins in 1947 and ends in 1953.

Did you know that Django NEVER played electric when playing with Stephane?

DG

[Hoopskidoodle]

Did Django have a Selmer with a permanently affixed magnetic pickup at some point? I saw a Les Paul documentary some time ago where he pulled out a Selmer that was given to him by Django. He pointed out where two holes had been repaired that looked suspiciously like holes for the shafts of a tone and volume pot.

[daveg]

Django Reinhardt Photographs

DG