Gypsy Guitarist

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30630, 22 December 1964, Page 9

Gypsy Guitarist

Django Reinhardt And Stephane Grappelly With The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France. Reinhardt (guitar), Grappelly (violin), others. Honeysuckle Rose, Sweet Georgia Brown, Nuages, Daphne, 10 other tracks. Ace of Clubs mono ACLMIISB, 22s 6d. Byrd At The Gate: Charlie Byrd. Byrd (gtr), Keter Betts (bass), Bill Reichenbach (drs), with Seldon Powell (ten) on three tracks and Clark Terry (tpt) on three. Shiny Stockings, Blues For Night People, Broadway, six others. Riverside stereo R 59467; also mono. 39s 6d.

Django Reinhardt, the great gypsy guitarist, made hundreds of 78 r.p.m. recordings during his relatively brief career but, for some reason or other, few of them have found their way to longplaying records in this country. So this Ace of Clubs LP, even if it contained only moderate-to-good performances, would find a ready sale among jazz enthusiasts. But containing as it does 14 of the gypsy’s best recordings, and at a bargain price, it is not just welcome—it is indispensable. All 14 were recorded in London, 10 in 1938 arid 1939, Reinhardt’s best

period, and the others in 1946. What set Reinhardt apart from most other jazz guitarists of his time were his technical facility (which no jazz guitarist has matched), his rich rhythms and his incisive melodic gifts. Many of the devices—such as runs in octaves—which are only now coming into general currency among jazz guitarists can be heard on these 1938 recordings. And his achievements appear the more overwhelming when one recalls his unique disability: two fingers on his left hand were burnt to shrivelled stumps in a caravan fire when he was 18. Charlie Byrd, who divides his time between jazz and the “classical” repertoire for the guitar, is in a sense Django’s heir. Byrd is blessed with a superb technique and good taste and can always be relied on to produce a record worth hearing—although, where Django’s recordings were beautiful and often profoundly moving, Byrd’s are merely pretty. The really exciting moments on “Byrd at the Gate” come when the guest stars —Clark Terry and Seldon Powell—are playing.