Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Minor Swing

It's 1937.  A smoke filled small jazz club in Paris.  You're there because you've heard about a new jazz band Quintette du Hot Club de France featuring a gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt and the French violinist Stephane Grappelli.  Let's take a listen.

Django is considered one of the first European jazz musicians with a unique guitar style developed in part after he was caught in a fire in 1928, burning much of his body and partially paralyzing two of the fingers on his left hand.

Heavily influenced by the recordings of Louis Armstrong, whom he referred to as "my brother", he was a true musical innovator.

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