Editing Django Reinhardt (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in [[Liberchies]], [[Pont-à-Celles]], Belgium,<ref name="Balen 2003">{{Cite book|title = Django Reinhardt: Le Génie vagabond|first = Noël|year = 2003|isbn = 978-2-268-04561-0|last = Balen| publisher=Rocher }}</ref> into a French family<ref name=Bar /> of [[Manouche]] Romani descent.<ref name="Balen 2003" /> His French, Alsatian father, Jean Eugene Weiss, domiciled in Paris with his wife, went by Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt, his wife's surname, to avoid French military conscription.<ref name="allaboutjazz.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=25499|title=Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz|work=All About Jazz|date=7 May 2007 |access-date=3 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127173102/https://www.allaboutjazz.com/django-reinhardt-and-the-illustrated-history-of-gypsy-jazz-django-reinhardt-by-j-robert-bragonier/ |archive-date=27 Nov 2022}}</ref> His mother, Laurence Reinhardt, was a dancer.<ref name="allaboutjazz.com" /> The birth certificate refers to "Jean Reinhart, son of Jean Baptiste Reinhart, artist, and Laurence Reinhart, housewife, domiciled in Paris".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.djangostation.com/IMG/jpg/NaissanceDjango2.jpg|title=Official birth certificate of Jean Reinhardt|work=Django Station|access-date=3 February 2013}}</ref>

A number of authors have repeated the suggestion that Reinhardt's nickname, Django, is [[Romani language|Romani]] for "I awake";<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|4–5}} it may also simply have been a diminutive, or local [[Walloon language|Walloon]] version, of "Jean".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djangobooks.com/blog/sinti-culture-language-the-origin-of-the-name-django/|title=Sinti culture, language & the origin of the name Django|date=28 August 2014|website=Djangobooks.com|access-date=1 March 2021}}</ref> Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris, where he started playing the violin, banjo and guitar. He became adept at stealing chickens.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|5}}<ref name=Delaunay>{{cite book|last=Delaunay|first=Charles|title=Django Reinhardt|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=1961|isbn=0-306-80171-X}}</ref>{{rp|14}} His father reportedly played music in a family band comprising himself and seven brothers; a surviving photograph shows this band including his father on piano.

Reinhardt was attracted to music at an early age, first playing the violin. At the age of 12, he received a [[Guitjo (six-string)|banjo-guitar]] as a gift. He quickly taught himself to play, mimicking the fingerings of musicians he watched, who would have included local virtuoso players of the day such as Jean "Poulette" Castro and Auguste "Gusti" Malha, as well as from his uncle Guiligou, who played violin, banjo and guitar.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|28}} Reinhardt was able to make a living playing music by the time he was 15, busking in cafés, often with his brother Joseph. At this time, he had not started playing jazz, although he had probably heard and had been intrigued by the version of jazz played by American expatriate bands like [[Billy Arnold (bandleader)|Billy Arnold's]].<ref>Dregni, Michael. Django : the Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend . Oxford ;: Oxford University Press, 2004. 37-42</ref>

Reinhardt received little formal education and acquired the rudiments of literacy only in adult life.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|13}}

=== Marriage and injury ===
At the age of 17, Reinhardt married Florine "Bella" Mayer, a girl from the same Romani settlement, according to Romani custom (although not an official marriage under French law).<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|9}} The following year he recorded for the first time.<ref name=Fogg>Fogg, Rod. ''Django Reinhardt: Know the Man, Play the Music'', Hal Leonard Corp. (2005)</ref>{{rp|9}} On these recordings, made in 1928, Reinhardt plays the "banjo" (actually the banjo-guitar) accompanying the accordionists Maurice Alexander, Jean Vaissade and Victor Marceau, and the singer Maurice Chaumel. His name was now drawing international attention, such as from British bandleader [[Jack Hylton]], who came to France just to hear him play.<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|10}} Hylton offered him a job on the spot, and Reinhardt accepted.<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|10}}

Before he had a chance to start with the band, Reinhardt nearly died. On the night of 2 November 1928, Reinhardt was going to bed in the wagon that he and his wife shared in the caravan. He knocked over a candle, which ignited the extremely flammable [[celluloid]] that his wife used to make artificial flowers. The wagon was quickly  engulfed in flames. The couple escaped, but Reinhardt suffered extensive burns over half his body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flatpick.com/category_s/2218.htm |title=Gypsy Jazz and Django Reinhardt |website=Flatpick.com |date=2 November 1928 |access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref> During his 18-month hospitalization, doctors recommended amputation of his badly damaged right leg. Reinhardt refused the surgery and was eventually able to walk with the aid of a cane.<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|10}}

More crucial to his music, the fourth and fifth fingers (ring and little fingers) of Reinhardt's left hand were badly burned. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|43–44}}  <ref name=Fogg />{{rp|10}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Pierre|last=Marty|title= Django ressuscité: contribution à l'étude d'une auto-rééducation fonctionnelle en 1925 |publisher= Copédit |year=2005|isbn= 2-906030-91-0 }}</ref> During many months of recuperation, Reinhardt retaught himself to play using primarily the index and middle fingers of his left hand, using the two injured fingers only for chord work.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|31–35}} He made use of a new six-string [[Steel-string acoustic guitar|steel-strung acoustic guitar]] that was bought for him by his brother, [[Joseph Reinhardt]], who was also an accomplished guitarist.

Within a year of the fire, in 1929, Bella Mayer gave birth to their son, [[Lousson Reinhardt|Henri "Lousson" Reinhardt]]. Soon thereafter, the couple split up. The son eventually took the surname of his mother's new husband. As Lousson Baumgartner, the son himself became an accomplished musician who went on to record with his biological father.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.hotclub.co.uk/gypsyworld/index.php?title=Lousson_Reinhardt|title=Lousson Reinhardt|encyclopedia=Gypsy Jazz Encyclopedia|access-date=7 April 2010|archive-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702085441/http://www.hotclub.co.uk/gypsyworld/index.php?title=Lousson_Reinhardt|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Discovery of jazz ===
After parting from his wife and son, Reinhardt traveled throughout France, getting occasional jobs playing music at small clubs. He had no specific goals, living a hand-to-mouth existence, spending his earnings as quickly as he made them.<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|11}} Accompanying him on his travels was his new girlfriend, Sophie Ziegler. Nicknamed "Naguine", she was a distant cousin.<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|11}}

In the years after the fire, Reinhardt was rehabilitating and experimenting on the guitar that his brother had given him. After having played a broad spectrum of music, he was introduced to American jazz by an acquaintance, [[Émile Savitry]], whose record collection included such musical luminaries as [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Duke Ellington]], [[Joe Venuti]], [[Eddie Lang]], and [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]]. (The [[Swing music|swinging sound]] of Venuti's jazz violin and Eddie Lang's virtuoso guitar-playing anticipated the more famous sound of Reinhardt and Grappelli's later ensemble.) Hearing their music triggered in Reinhardt a vision and goal of becoming a jazz professional.<ref name=Fogg />{{rp|12}}

While developing his interest in jazz, Reinhardt met [[Stéphane Grappelli]], a young violinist with similar musical interests. In 1928, Grappelli had been a member of the orchestra at the Ambassador Hotel while bandleader [[Paul Whiteman]] and Joe Venuti were performing there.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dregni |first1=Michael |title=Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195167528 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3t8SLVloJjsC&pg=PA86 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> In early 1934 both Reinhardt and Grappelli were members of [[Louis Vola]]'s band.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|66}}

=== Formation of the quintet ===
From 1934 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Reinhardt and Grappelli worked together as the principal soloists of their newly formed quintet, the [[Quintette du Hot Club de France]], in Paris. It became the most accomplished and innovative European jazz group of the period.<ref>"Stephane Grappelli is Europe's gift to jazz", ''The Ottawa Journal'', 9 June 1980</ref>

Reinhardt's brother [[Joseph Reinhardt|Joseph]] and [[Roger Chaput]] also played on guitar, and [[Louis Vola]] was on bass.<ref name=Illustrated>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Dregni|title=Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz|publisher=Speck Press|year=2006|isbn=978-1-933108-10-0}}</ref>{{rp|45–49}} The Quintette was one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of stringed instruments.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|64–66}}

In Paris on 14 March 1933, Reinhardt recorded two takes each of "Parce que je vous aime" and "Si, j'aime Suzy", vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and guitar support. He used three guitarists along with an [[accordion]] lead, violin, and bass. In August 1934, he made other recordings with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Reinhardt), including the first recording by the Quintette. In both years the great majority of their recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, and other instruments,<ref name="djangomontreal">{{cite web|last=Rousseau|first=François|title=Welcome|url=http://www.djangomontreal.com/Django_Montreal/Welcome.html |publisher=Django Montreal|access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref> but the all-string instrumentation is the one most often adopted by emulators of the Hot Club sound.

[[Decca Records]] in the United States released three records of Quintette tunes with Reinhardt on guitar, and one other, credited to "Stephane Grappelli & His Hot 4 with Django Reinhardt", in 1935.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.78discography.com/Dec23000.htm |title=DECCA (USA) 78rpm numerical listing discographyL 23000 – 23500 |website=78discography.com |date=26 September 2015 |access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref>

Reinhardt also played and recorded with many American jazz musicians, such as [[Adelaide Hall]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Benny Carter]], and [[Rex Stewart]] (who later stayed in Paris). He participated in a jam session and radio performance with [[Louis Armstrong]]. Later in his career, Reinhardt played with [[Dizzy Gillespie]] in France. Also in the neighborhood was the artistic salon [[R-26 (salon)|R-26]], at which Reinhardt and Grappelli performed regularly as they developed their unique musical style.<ref>Tranchant, Jean (1969). ''La Grande Roue''. Paris: Éditions de la Table Ronde.</ref>

In 1938, Reinhardt's quintet played to thousands at an all-star show held in London's [[Gaumont State Cinema|Kilburn State]] auditorium.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|92}} While playing, he noticed American film actor [[Eddie Cantor]] in the front row. When their set ended, Cantor rose to his feet, then went up on stage and kissed Reinhardt's hand, paying no concern to the audience.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|93}} A few weeks later the quintet played at the [[London Palladium]].<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|93}}

=== Second World War ===
[[File:Django Reinhardt par le Studio Harcourt (1944).jpg|thumb|Reinhardt in 1944, photographed at [[Studio Harcourt]]]]
When [[World War II]] broke out, the original quintet was on tour in the United Kingdom. Reinhardt returned to Paris at once,<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|98–99}} leaving his then girlfriend in the UK. Grappelli remained in the United Kingdom for the duration of the war. Reinhardt re-formed the quintet, with [[Hubert Rostaing]] on [[clarinet]] replacing Grappelli.<ref name="sharp" />

While he tried to continue with his music, war with the [[Nazis]] presented Reinhardt with a potentially catastrophic obstacle, as he was a Romani jazz musician. Beginning in 1933, all German Romani were barred from living in cities, herded into settlement camps, and [[Sterilization of Romani women|routinely sterilized]]. Romani men were required to wear a brown [[Gypsy ID triangle]] sewn at chest level on their clothing,<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|168}} similar to the pink triangle that homosexuals wore, and much like the yellow Star of David that Jews had to subsequently wear.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/94/80/f8/9480f8fce677026b4a66a2f4b8ab30a6.jpg|format=JPG|title=Jews wearing Star of David|website=S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com|access-date=30 May 2017}}]</ref> During the war, Romani were systematically killed in [[concentration camps]].<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|169}} In France, they were used as slave labour on farms and in factories.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|169}} During [[the Holocaust]] an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Romani throughout Europe were killed.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|154}}

[[Hitler]] and [[Joseph Goebbels]] viewed jazz as un-German [[counterculture]].<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|154}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://65.media.tumblr.com/93b82b80ad9fe4bfb40ff6db6eef0608/tumblr_mtv5ys4Z3P1stxu8xo1_1280.jpg |format=JPG|title=Nazi poster illustrating the negative aspects of jazz|website=65.media.tumblr.com|access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref> Nonetheless, Goebbels stopped short of a complete ban on jazz, which now had many fans in Germany and elsewhere.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|157}} Official policy towards jazz was much less strict in occupied France, according to author Andy Fry, with jazz music frequently played on both [[Radio France]], the official station of Vichy France, and [[Radio Paris]], which was controlled by the Germans. A new generation of French jazz enthusiasts, the [[Zazou]]s, had arisen and swollen the ranks of the Hot Club.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|157}} In addition to the increased interest, many American musicians based in Paris during the thirties had returned to the US at the beginning of the war, leaving more work for French musicians. Reinhardt was the most famous jazz musician in Europe at the time, working steadily during the early war years and earning a great deal of money, yet always under threat.

Reinhardt expanded his musical horizons during this period. Using an early amplification system, he was able to work in more of a big-band format, in large ensembles with horn sections. He also experimented with classical composition, writing a Mass for the Gypsies and a symphony. Since he did not read music, Reinhardt worked with an assistant to notate what he was improvising. His modernist piece "Rythme Futur" was also intended to be acceptable to the Nazis.

{{quote box||align=right|width=25em|bgcolor = MistyRose|quote=In this ["Nuages"] graceful and eloquent melody, Django evoked the woes of the war that weighed on people's souls{{mdash}}and then transcended it all.|source=Biographer Michael Dregni<ref name=Illustrated />{{rp|93}}}}

In 1943, Reinhardt married his long-term partner Sophie "Naguine" Ziegler in [[Salbris]]. They had a son, [[Babik Reinhardt]], who became a respected guitarist.<ref name="sharp">{{cite web|last=Sharp|first=Fred|title=Babik Reinhardt|url=http://www.hotclub.co.uk/html/babik.html |publisher=The Django Reinhardt Swing Page|access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref>

At that time the tide of war turned against the Germans, with a considerable darkening of the situation in Paris. Severe rationing was in place, and members of Reinhardt's circle were being captured by the Nazis or joining the resistance.

Reinhardt's first attempt at escape from [[Occupied France]] led to capture. Fortunately for him, a jazz-loving German, [[Luftwaffe]] officer {{ill|Dietrich Schulz-Köhn|de}}, allowed him to return to Paris.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|last=Kington|first=Miles|title=Playing a Dangerous Game: Django, Jazz and the Nazis|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/djangoreinhardt.shtml |publisher=BBC|access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref> Reinhardt made a second attempt a few days later, but was stopped in the middle of the night by Swiss border guards, who forced him to return to Paris again.<ref>Kater, Michael H. ''Different Drummers: Jazz in the Culture of Nazi Germany'', Oxford University Press (1992) p. 178</ref>

One of his tunes, 1940's "Nuages",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq-t9TVbthc | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211111/Fq-t9TVbthc| archive-date=11 November 2021 | url-status=live|title=Django Reinhardt – Nuages – Paris, 13 December 1940 |via=YouTube |date=13 December 1940 |access-date=30 May 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> became an unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation.<ref name=Illustrated />{{rp|93}} During a concert at the [[Salle Pleyel]], the popularity of the tune was such that the crowd made him replay it three times in a row.<ref name=Illustrated />{{rp|93}} The single sold over 100,000 copies.<ref name=Illustrated />{{rp|93}}

=== United States tour ===
[[File:Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington (Gottlieb).jpg|thumb|Reinhardt and Duke Ellington at the Aquarium in New York, c.{{nbsp}}November 1946]]
After the war, Reinhardt rejoined Grappelli in the UK. In the autumn of 1946, he made his first tour in the United States, debuting at [[Cleveland Music Hall]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Meiksins |first=Robin |url=http://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/525 |title=Django Reinhardt at the Music Hall |publisher=Cleveland Historical |access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref> as a special guest soloist with [[Duke Ellington]] and His Orchestra. He played with many musicians and composers, such as [[Maury Deutsch]]. At the end of the tour, Reinhardt played two nights at [[Carnegie Hall]] in New York City; he received a great ovation and took six curtain calls on the first night.

Despite his pride in touring with Ellington (one of two letters to Grappelli relates his excitement), he was not fully integrated into the band. He played a few tunes at the end of the show, backed by Ellington, with no special arrangements written for him. After the tour, Reinhardt secured an engagement at [[Café Society]] Uptown, where he played four solos a day, backed by the resident band. These performances drew large audiences.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|138–139}} Having failed to bring his usual Selmer Modèle Jazz, he played on a borrowed electric guitar, which he felt hampered the delicacy of his style.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|138}} He had been promised jobs in California, but they failed to develop. Tired of waiting, Reinhardt returned to France in February 1947.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|141}}

=== After the quintet ===
After his return, Reinhardt appeared to find it difficult to adjust. He sometimes showed up for scheduled concerts without a guitar or amplifier, or wandered off to the park or beach. On a few occasions he refused to get out of bed. Reinhardt developed a reputation among his band, fans, and managers as extremely unreliable. He skipped sold-out concerts to "walk to the beach" or "smell the dew."<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|145}} During this period he continued to attend the [[R-26 (salon)|R-26]] artistic salon in Montmartre, improvising with his devoted collaborator, Stéphane Grappelli.<ref>Tranchant, Jean: pg. 116, ''La Grande Roue''; Éditions de la Table Ronde, Paris, 1969.</ref><ref>De Visscher, Éric. R. vingt-six. ''Django Reinhardt – Swing De Paris.'' Musée de la musique (Cité de la musique), Paris. 6 October 2012.</ref>

In Rome in 1949, Reinhardt recruited three Italian jazz players (on bass, piano, and snare drum) and recorded over 60 tunes in an Italian studio. He united with Grappelli, and used his acoustic Selmer-Maccaferri. The recording was issued for the first time in the late 1950s.<ref name="chester">{{cite web|last=Chester|first=Paul Vernon|title=Django in Rome: The 1949–50 Sessions|url=http://www.paulvernonchester.com/DjangoInRome.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526081338/http://www.paulvernonchester.com/DjangoInRome.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 May 2012|publisher=Manouche Maestro|access-date=30 November 2011}}</ref>

Back in Paris, in June 1950, Reinhardt was invited to join an entourage to welcome the return of [[Benny Goodman]]. He also attended a reception for Goodman, who, after the war ended, had asked Reinhardt to join him in the US. Goodman repeated his invitation and, out of politeness, Reinhardt accepted. Reinhardt later had second thoughts about what role he could play alongside Goodman, who was the "King of Swing", and remained in France.<ref name=Dregni />{{rp|251}}

=== Final years ===
[[File:Django Reinhardt Plaque Samois.JPG|right|thumb|Plaque commemorating Reinhardt at [[Samois-sur-Seine]]]]

In 1951, Reinhardt retired to [[Samois-sur-Seine]], near [[Fontainebleau]], where he lived until his death. He continued to play in Paris jazz clubs and began playing electric guitar. (He often used a Selmer fitted with an electric pickup, despite his initial hesitation about the instrument.) In his final recordings, made with his Nouvelle Quintette in the last few months of his life, he had begun moving in a new musical direction, in which he assimilated the vocabulary of [[bebop]] and fused it with his own melodic style.<ref name=Givan>{{cite book|first=Benjamin|last=Givan|title=The Music of Django Reinhardt|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-472-03408-6|pages=158–94}}</ref>

On 16 May 1953, while walking home from [[Fontainebleau–Avon station]] after playing in a Paris club, he collapsed outside his house from a [[brain hemorrhage]].<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|160}}
It was a Saturday, and it took a full day for a doctor to arrive.<ref name=Delaunay />{{rp|161}} Reinhardt was declared [[dead on arrival]] at the hospital in Fontainebleau, at the age of 43.