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Celebrating a century of Django and a decade of Emmet Ray
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The Django Reinhardt centennial is upon us.
True, the remarkable Gypsy guitarist – easily among the most influential artists in jazz history – was born Jan. 23, 1910. But why wait until the New Year to celebrate, particularly seeing as how the actual anniversary falls inconveniently after the gift-giving season?
Certainly, Dreyfus Jazz has no intention of getting hung up on such technicalities. The French label announced the other day it has a slew of Reinhardt-related releases ready to go. The first batch, due Tuesday, includes Bireli Lagrene's “Gipsy Trio," Sylvain Luc's “Standards" and Luis Salinas “En Rosedale." The second set, which hits stores just before the centennial, features a two-disc collection of tracks by loads of Reinhardt-inspired guitarists.
Such players are not hard to come by. Northern California’s own Paul Mehling patterned his long-popular Hot Club of San Francisco on Reinhardt’s Hot Club of France. Among the guitarists who have cited Reinhardt’s influence are Carlos Santana, B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, Trey Anastasio, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Derek Trucks, Mark Knopfler, Les Paul, Charlie Christian, Frank Vignola, George Benson and Wes Montgomery.
All of which would be news to Reinhardt, who died of a brain hemorrhage at age 43. His recording career lasted barely two decades and even at that was interrupted by World War II. (Reinhardt managed to survive the war, unlike countless other Gypsies who died at the hands of the Nazis.) In that time, he not only revolutionized jazz guitar but composed such staples as "Minor Swing," "Tears,” "Belleville," "Djangology" and “Nuages.”
While Reinhardt is no household name in America – unless you’re a jazz household, of course – it’s safe to assume the centennial should lift his Q score. The guitarist certainly picked up fans when Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown” hit theaters in December 1999.
Sean Penn stars as Emmet Ray, a Depression-era jazz guitarist who forsakes true love (Samantha Morton) for sexy upward mobility (Uma Thurman) and justifies it by invoking the divine right of artists to hurt others in pursuit of the Muse. All three actors are wonderful but Penn truly shines, his Ray alternating between the merely rascally and deeply despicable. He’s an angel with his instrument but otherwise is a low character prone to drinking, gambling and whoring. To relax, Ray enjoys shooting rats down at the dump.
About the only thing the character truly respects in this world is Reinhardt’s music. Indeed, although he boasts endlessly of his own musical prowess to anyone who will listen, Ray not only acknowledges the Gypsy’s genius but runs from the room at the mere thought of meeting him.
Here’s what Allen had to say about building “Sweet and Lowdown” around the Reinhardt mystique.
Django Reinhardt was a quantum leap ahead of everybody in his era. And any other instrument I could think of, whether it was the clarinet, the trumpet, the trombone or piano, there were always a number of great musicians of that era. This was true of every instrument. On the guitar, for some reason, there was Django and there was nobody else in the world close to him. He was just out there by himself.
The “Sweet and Lowdown” soundtrack is a mellow joy. This being an Allen movie, there are vintage jazz tracks from the likes of Bunny Berigan and Sidney Bechet. The majority of the music, however, is the work of the Dick Hyman Group featuring Howard Alden on lead guitar and Bucky Pizzarelli on rhythm. As Alden tells the story, he took on more than he thought in working with Allen and Penn.
I got a call from Dick Hyman, whom I have worked with for over 20 years, where he asked if I could play like Django Reinhardt. I said jokingly, "Of course, Dick, can't everybody?" Dick does the music for almost all of Woody's films. At the time, Woody gave out very little information about his film projects. All Dick knew was that it was about Django. Soon, I was asked to coach Sean Penn on how to play the guitar. Later, he told me it was about this fictitious guitarist who was a contemporary of Django. At first, I thought it would be two or three days of recording but it turned into about five months of coaching Sean Penn on guitar. He had never touched a guitar before. I helped them select the instruments for the movie. I had to cancel things to do all this but it was well worth it. Sean was very serious and dedicated to learning what he had to do to play the part. I think he did an amazing job.
Suffice it to say, I agree with Alden’s estimation: in my opinion, “Sweet and Lowdown” is the best Allen movie of the ‘90s. Check out a clip below and click here for Ray's MySpace.
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Sean Penn in "Sweet and Lowdown"
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