Complete Django
review by Richard Turner

Complete Django is a collection of all 81 original themes and melodies by the great Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Presented in both standard notation and tablature, chord diagrams of the authentic Gypsy jazz chords used in accompanying this music are included above the notation stave.

Imported from France, this book is not only a comprehensive collection of all of Django's compositions, but with its wonderful foreword, chronology of Django's life, and many, many photographs and drawings- Complete Django also stands as a fine biographical tribute to this legendary jazzman. Django Reinhardt specialists Max Robin and Jean-Philippe Watremez are the authors and transcribers of this edition, and the end product represents a real labor of love on their part.

Django Reinhardt occupies a unique niche in the history of jazz guitar. Born Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt in Belgium in 1910, Django was a Gypsy of the Manouche tribe. His early life was spent traveling about Europe and North Africa in a horse-drawn caravan. Lacking formal education, Django became interested in guitar, banjo, and violin by the age of 12 and was performing in Paris cafes by the age of 13.

As chance would have it, 1928 turned out to be a pivotal year in Django's life. It was the year of both his first recording and the tragic fire in his caravan which left his left hand permanently disabled, forcing him to alter his guitar technique by relying more on his undamaged first and second fingers and less on his injured third and fourth fingers. After a long recovery period, Django began touring with his guitarist brother Joseph and soon fell under the influence of American jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Never a note reader, it's my understanding that Django played strictly by ear but had the ability to almost instantly recall any tune that he heard. We all should be so lucky, but if we were, then we wouldn't need fine books such as this! We mere mortals should be very happy when publications like this come along, enabling us to experience this fine music in a personally meaningful and authoritative way.

In the early to mid 1930s Django began his association with violin great Stephane Grappelli and formed his famous Quintet of the Hot Club of France. An all-string quintet, this group consisted of Django, his brother Joseph, and a cousin as guitarists, Grappelli on the violin, and Louis Vola on bass.

Many of the pieces in Complete Django represent the collaborative work of Reinhardt and Grappelli. At the outbreak of World War II, however, Reinhardt and Grappelli parted ways. Grappelli went to England while Django remained in France, reformed his group, and performed throughout the war. In 1946 Django toured with Duke Ellington. I have read that as his fee for this tour he requested "the same amount of money that Clark Gable gets paid for a movie." Always a Gypsy, I guess!! It was also at this time that Django became interested in newer forms of jazz such as bebop.

From the late 1940s until his death Django toured occasionally but spent most of his time living in semiretirement in Samois Sur Seine, a town south of Paris where he enjoyed fishing and painting. Django's last recording was made in 1953. Sadly, this was also the year of his premature death in Paris at the age of 43, due to a brain hemorrhage.

With text in both French and English, the authors state that their guiding principle in writing this book was to present Django's music as "thought in motion". The chord formations shown are those which would have been used during the 1930s and 40s. Such attention to detail clearly demonstrates that the authors are truly Django Reinhardt fanatics! Each piece is introduced with performance notes regarding its recording history, band members, form, style, and evolutionary importance. This volume contains many Django solos, many pieces which are Django-Grappelli collaborations, a selection by Eddie Barclay, and a piece resulting from the collaboration of Django and Maurice Vandair. In the Django-Grappelli collaborations, both the violin and guitar parts are presented, providing readers with a solid basis for writing their own arrangements.

Note that in order to fully understand this music it's essential to have both this book and the original Django Reinhardt recordings. These are widely available and can be obtained via the Internet and specialty record distributors.

With the renewed interest in the Gypsy jazz guitar style, this book is a great contribution to the literature and should become part of every Django aficionado's library. The authors, editors, and layout people did a magnificent job and Mel Bay Publications is proud to offer Complete Django to jazz guitarists and aficionados worldwide.

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About the Author

After demonstrating an early interest in music with the clarinet and folk guitar, Richard Turner studied classical guitar with George Sakellariou and José Rey de la Torre and received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from San José State University.

Since 1994 Mr. Turner has taught in the large classical guitar program at California State University at Fullerton. Several years ago he revived his early interest in American roots music and developed a course in the history of American folk music which he also teaches at Cal State Fullerton. His instrumental interests are diverse, including classical guitar, slide guitar, banjo, and steel-string fingerpicking and flatpicking styles.