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Django Reinhardt: Occupation Of France

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Django Reinhardt was born on Janurary 23, 1910 in Liberchies , Point-à-Celles, Belgium. Born into an itinerant Romani gypsy family. Throughout Djangos childhood he was surrounded by music. At the age of 12, he was given a banjo guitar, which he learned to play by himself. While growing up Django Reinhardt was influenced by his fellow gypsy musicians. During his teenage years he played in the streets of Paris earning money along the way. Meanwhile, in the United States, Jazz was already popular with artist such as, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong as some of the top musicians in the genre. During World War 1, Jazz made its way to Europe through African American soldiers, who were jazz players. In addition, Jazz musicians experienced less racism …show more content…

He was able to make a living under the occupation of Paris by Nazi Germany. He was already a target by the Germans because of his gypsy heritage. And even more because he was a jazz musician. Fortunately, he was revered by his guitar skills he was able to stay in Paris and make money when most of his people were being place in concentration camps. A stanza from a poem written by Jack B. Bedell describes the unusual freedom Django had in occupied France. “He plays like a man lucky to be alive a jazz-playing, crippled gypsy accompanied by a Jew and three blacks, surrounded by Nazis in occupied Paris, free beyond any logic, free to play.” The Germans thought of Django as a gifted musician sparing him from the fate many of the Gypsies and Jews faced. Django eventually try to escape Paris after hearing that his people were being killed by the Germans. “On one occasion, he fled Paris after being tipped off that the Nazis were gassing Gypsies. But he was captured crossing the Swiss border, and only released because the commander happened to be a fan of his. A few days later he was turned away again, attempting to flee.” After several failed attempts to escape France, Django had no other choice but to stay in France. During this period Django was able to have successful hits. These hits include Nuages and Manoir de mes rêves, among others. After the war, Reinhardt and Grappelli reunited and recorded Echoes of France which is a Jazz interpretation of the French national anthem.
In his later years, Django began playing with an electrical guitar. Django died in 1953 near his home in Samois-sur-Seine. Leaving the world a great inheritance of a new way to play jazz through improvised solos and a rhythmic guitars that would sound like percussion. He was able to survive World War 2 and entertain audiences at a time were fear and uncertainty were

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