Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli and Gypsy Jazz

[Mehmani]

A gypsy born in Belgium, Jean "Django" Reinhardt was a virtuoso jazz guitarist, head honcho of The Quintette Du Hot Club Du France, a ground-breaking band that created a whole new genre - "Gypsy Jazz". At the age of 18, Django's caravan was consumed by fire and he was badly burnt all over his body, including the hand he used to strum. He couldn't walk for a year and suffered heavy pain for the rest of his life (he drunk heavily to numb it most of the time). He discovered that only his index and middle fingers could work properly, and so set about learning to play guitar and solo with only two fingers. In this video, you can see Django soloing with only two fingers (he used the other two paralysed fingers as deadweights for chord work, or if they were hurting particularly, his knuckles). From Wikipedia "With rehabilitation and practice he relearned his craft in a completely new way, even as his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralysed. He played all of his guitar solos with only two fingers, and used the two injured digits only for chord work".

Stephane Grappelli (the violinist seen in J'Attendrai) was a Gypsy violinist born in Paris. He was Reinhardt's partner for years until WWII, when he fled to England while Django stayed in France. Grappelli only died in 1997 (mainly because he drank a lot less than Django), and my Step-Father had the pleasure of seeing Grappelli live in his prime as a child.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abTCjBo8elE[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29gwz9LsPOc[/media]