[Jazz & Song] Reinhardt, Django. (1910 - 1953)
Autograph Signature, Photograph, Sheet Music and Ephemera
Exceedingly rare group of items from the French jazz guitarist and composer who was one of the most influential guitarists of his time. He was the creator of the “hot” jazz style of guitar playing, created after two of his fingers on his playing hand were paralyzed from a fire. He died in 1951 at the age of 43 from a brain hemorrhage.Obtained at a Basel performance during Reinhart’s 1946 European Tour by Ellis Gruber, an amateur jazz pianist who while in Europe for medical school was commissioned by the Melody Maker paper (London) to attend and write a review of the Django show. The small collection includes a 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” cut signature signed in black fountain pen, together with a few pages from a scrapbook that were assembled from that concert including the previously mentioned newspaper article, an original and unique snapshot photograph from the concert, the pay stub for the review, and a program insert noting the substitution of drummer Bob Bouraz and giving the guitar brand "MAJOR" used by Django. Also included is a scarce sheet music edition, the "2éme ALBUM DE DJANGO REINHARDT" (Paris: Publications Francis Day, 1945), Folio, 20 pp, including eight compositions dated 1941 - 1945.
Reinhardt remains one of the most renowned jazz guitarists and with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, he cofounded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as "one of the most original bands in the history of recorded jazz." (12180)
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