Django Reinhardt - Django in Rome (1949-1950) 2003

Artist: Django Reinhardt
Title Of Album: Django in Rome (1949-1950)
Year Of Release: 2003
Label: JSP Rec.
Genre: Jazz Manouche
Format: FLAC (Tracks)
Quality: Lossless
Total Time: 04:55:43
Total Size: 1.21 GB (Scans) (3% rec.)

The postwar recording sessions included in this budget-priced boxed set are the last ones Django Reinhardt made with violinist Stephane Grappelli. The remaining original members of his acclaimed Quintette du Hot Club de France had departed already, and on the first three of these four discs the guitarist and violinist are accompanied by a trio of Italian musicians: pianist Gianni Safred, bassist Carlo Pecori, and drummer Aurelio de Carolis. (The recordings on the fourth disc, which date from 1950, are credited to the Quintette du Hot Club de France, but by that point Grappelli had been replaced by alto saxophonist and clarinetist Andre Ekyan and the remaining three musicians comprised a standard piano trio — an instrumental configuration far removed from that of the original quintet.) The resulting sound is an interesting blend of Reinhardt's Parisian gypsy jazz and the more mainstream small-ensemble jazz sound that was popular both in Europe and the United States at the time. Reinhardt and Grappelli are both in excellent form, and their accompanists more than carry their own weight on such familiar fare as "Minor Swing," "How High the Moon," and "Swing '39"; there are also several fun adaptations of classical melodies, such as "Tchaikovsky's Starry Night" and "Grieg's Norwegian Dance." Grappelli is missed on the final disc, but overall this set provides a fascinating overview of Reinhardt's work at a pivotal point in his career. The JSP label's packaging continues the company's admirable tradition of paying loving attention to detail (full credits, new and extensive notes) without imposing expensive frills on the package. Recommended.
Rick Anderson

Tracks:

Cd1

1 Over the Rainbow (Arlen, Harburg) 2:45
2 Night and Day (Porter) 3:05
3 Minor Blues (Reinhardt) 2:45
4 Nature Boy (Ahbez) 3:34
5 The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise (Lockhart, Seitz) 2:52
6 Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir (Hess, Misraki, Trenet) 2:51
7 Hallelujah (Grey, Robin, Youmans) 3:09
8 Nagasaki (Dixon, Warren) 2:53
9 I'll Never Be the Same (Kahn, Malneck, Signorelli) 4:01
10 Swing '39 (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 3:15
11 Clopin Clopant 3:07
12 Honeysuckle Rose (Razaf, Waller) 4:02
13 All the Things You Are (Hammerstein, Kern) 2:56
14 Djangology (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 2:47
15 Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away) (Gershwin, Gershwin) 2:52
16 For Sentimental Reasons (Best, Watson) 3:28 17 Daphne (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 2:25
18 La Mer (Trenet) 4:17
19 Sweet Georgia Brown (Bernie, Casey, Pinkard) 3:15
20 Lover Man (Davis, Ramirez, Sherman) 3:12
21 Marie (Berlin) 2:53
22 Stormy Weather (Arlen, Koehler) 3:31
23 Minor Swing (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 2:37

Cd2

1 To Each His Own (Livingston, Evans) 3:47
2 What Is This Thing Called Love ? (Porter) 3:53
3 Ou Es-Tu Mon Amour ? (Nelson) 3:22
4 Undecided (Robin, Shavers) 3:02
5 Swing '42 (Reinhardt, Reisner) 2:27
6 I Surrender Dear 3:46
7 After You've Gone (Creamer, Layton) 3:01
8 I Got Rhythm (Gershwin, Gershwin) 2:46
9 I Saw Stars (Goodhart, Hoffman, Sigler) 3:37
10 Artillerie Lourde (Reinhardt) 3:42
11 It's Only a Paper Moon (Arlen, Harburg, Rose) 2:51
12 Time on My Hands (Adamson, Gordon, Youmans) 2:47
13 Brick Top (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 3:45
14 Tchaikovsky's Starry Night (Tchaikovski, arr. Reinhardt) 3:44
15 My Blue Heaven (Donaldson, Whiting) 3:32
16 Menilmontant (Trenet) 3:04
17 Swing Guitars (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 2:53
18 My Melancholy Baby (Burnett, Norton) 3:33
19 Webster (Reinhardt) 2:01
20 Micro (Reinhardt) 2:19
21 Micro (Reinhardt) 2:22
22 Dream of You (Lunceford, Morales, Oliver) 4:07
23 Begin the Beguine (Porter) 3:44

Cd3

1 How High the Moon (Hamilton, Lewis) 3:42
2 Nuages (Reinhardt) 3:29
3 I Can't Get Started (Duke, Gershwin) 3:54
4 I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Fields, McHugh) 3:41
5 The Man I Love (Gershwin, Gershwin) 3:18
6 The Peanut Vendor (Gilbert, Simons, Sunshine) 3:58
7 Just a Gigolo (Caesar, Casucci) 3:31
8 Troublant Bolero (Reinhardt) 3:41
9 Rosetta (Hines, Woode) 3:01
10 Blue Skies (Berlin) 4:11
11 It Might as Well Be Spring (Hammerstein, Rodgers) 4:05
12 Blue Lou (Mills, Sampson) 3:15
13 Brazil (Barroso, Russell) 2:54
14 What a Diff'rence a Day Made (Adams, Grever) 3:36
15 Pigalle (Koger, Ulmer) 2:47
16 Manoir de Mes Reves (Reinhardt) 3:27
17 Improvisation No.4 (Reinhardt) 2:10
18 Anniversary Song (Chaplin, Jolson) 4:26
19 Stormy Weather (Arlen, Koehler) 4:13
20 Russian Songs Melody (Trad.) 3:38
21 Jersey Bounce (Bradshaw, Johnson, Plater) 3:02

Cd4

1 Dinette (Reinhardt) 3:01
2 Sophisticated Lady (Ellington, Mills, Parish) 4:07
3 Micro (Reinhardt) 2:41
4 Dream of You (Lunceford, Morales, Oliver) 3:00
5 Nuages (Reinhardt) 4:07
6 Darktown Strutters' Ball (Brooks) 2:52
7 Grieg's Norwegian Dance (Grieg, arr. Reinhardt) 3:10
8 A-Tisket, A-Tasket (Alexander, Fitzgerald) 3:08
9 Manoir de Mes Reves (Reinhardt) 3:23
10 Place de Brouckere (Reinhardt) 2:56
11 September Song (Anderson, Weill) 2:58
12 Royal Garden Blues (Williams, Williams) 2:42
13 St. Louis Blues (Handy) 4:08
14 Sweet Georgia Brown (Bernie, Casey, Pinkard) 3:54
15 Minor Swing (Grappelli, Reinhardt) 2:27
16 Double Whisky (Reinhardt) 2:54
17 Artillerie Lourde (Reinhardt) 3:45
18 St. James Infirmary (Primrose, Traditional) 2:35
19 C Jam Blues (Bigard, Ellington) 3:35
20 Honeysuckle Rose (Razaf, Waller) 3:37
21 Debussy's Reverie (Debussy, arr. Reinhardt) 3:06
22 Black Night (Reinhardt) 3:35
23 Boogie Woogie (Smith) 3:25

Personnel:

[Cd1, 2 & 3 #1-15]
Django Reinhardt - g
Stephane Grappelli - vl
Gianni Safred - p
Carlo Pecori - b
Aurelio De Carolis - dr
[Cd3 #1-16]
Django Reinhardt - g
Stephane Grappelli - vl
[Cd3 #17]
Django Reinhardt - g
[Cd3 #18-21 & Cd4] Django Reinhardt & le Quintette du Hot Club de France
Django Reinhardt - g
Andre Ekyan - as & cl
Ralph Schecroun - p
Alf Masselier - b
Roger Paraboschi - dr
Recorded in Rome, RAI Studios, between January 1949 & May 1950.

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