Originally Posted by: g----ranthey guys.

i was reading through this site and i rarely ever see a mention of the legend django reinhardt.

now, i'm not gonna say YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS GUY, but i thought it would be great if some of the younger players like me could get a taste of the sort of guitar mastery that django brought to the table.

everyone talks about how hendrix, or eddie van halen revolutionised guitar playing, but i think in terms of passion two guys stand out above all else,

Django Reinhardt and pat martino

Both lost their ability to play through horrific injury, and were thoughtthat they ould never play again, yet relearned the guitar from scratch basically and became pioneers in not only guitar, but jazz as a genre.

but this thread is about django. i think that his music was THE music, period.

again, i'm not telling you, i'm just putting the great man a mention, and i hope some of you will take this recommendation and look him up, and you never know, maybe you'll become as inspired as i am.

you would know him from the composition Minor Swing, but the solos i most recommend are Django's Tiger, Rythme Futur, nuages or les yeux noirs.

thanks for reading, if anyone does, and i hope you become as inspired by him as i have.

cheers,

G---rant

I'm with you on this. His playing, which, whether you're a jazz fan or not, was simply amazing, what I find really inspiring about him was that he essentially developed a style to compensate for the injuries to his fretting hand. That just blows me away. I have a tough time just getting through a few chord changes with all 5 working on the left hand. He played with this verve and speed (yeah, I know. I said a 'bad' word...hehe) that is really something to hear. And yet he was working with a handicap.

Now that's inspiring. At least to me. :)