Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt tabs Django Reinhardt discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Django Reinhardt guitar tabs

CD reviews

Paris and London: 1937-1948, Vol. 2

Django Reinhardt - Paris and London: 1937-1948, Vol. 2 Audio CD

A fair review of the Django Reinhardt "Paris and London: 1937-1948, Vol. 2" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Django Reinhardt reviews here, or go back to the Django Reinhardt tabs.

Band: Django Reinhardt
Title: Paris and London: 1937-1948, Vol. 2
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-05-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: St. Louis Blues 2: Bouncin' Around 3: I've Found a New Baby 4: Brick Top 5: Speevey 6: Minor Swing 7: Viper's Dream 8: Swingin' With Django 9: Paramount Stomp 10: Bolero 11: Bolero 12: Mabel 13: Mabel 14: My Serenade 15: You Rascal You 16: Stephane's Blues 17: Sugar 18: Sweet Georgia Brown 19: Tea for Two 20: Stockholm 21: Younger Generation 22: I'll See You in My Dreams 23: Echoes of Spain 24: Out of Nowhere 25: I Can't Give You Anything But Love 26: Naguine 27: Nuages 28: Rhythme Futur 29: Begin the Beguine 30: Blues 31: Coucou 32: Undecided 33: Swing '41 34: Nuages 35: Pour Vous (Exactly Like You) 36: Fantaisie Sur une Danse Norv�gienne 37: Vendredi 13 38: Liebesfreud 39: Mabel 40: Petits Mensonges (Little White Lies) 41: Yeux Noirs 42: Sweet Sue, Just You 43: Swing de Paris 44: Oiseaux des Lles 45: All of Me 46: Festival Swing 47: Dinette 48: Cr�puscule 49: Swing '42 50: Festival Swing 1942, Pt. 2 51: Belleville 52: Lentement, Mademoiselle 53: Douce Ambiance 54: Manoir de Mes R�ves 55: Oui 56: Cavalerie 57: Fleur d'Ennui 58: Blues Clair 59: Improvisation No. 3, Pt. 1 60: Improvisation No. 3, Pt. 2 61: Coquette 62: Django's Tiger 63: Embraceable You 64: Echoes of France 65: Swingtime in Springtime 66: Yours and Mine 67: On the Sunny Side of the Street 68: I Won't Dance 69: R-Vingt-Six 70: How High the Moon 71: Lover Man 72: Blue Lou 73: Blues 74: What Is This Thing Called Love? 75: Ol' Man River 76: Si Tu Savais 77: Eveline 78: Diminushing 79: Mike 80: Oh, Lady Be Good 81: Festival 48 82: Fantaisie 83: Brick Top 84: Just for Fun 85: To Each His Own Symphony

Great Music, Mediocre Sound
While the earlier Django box set on JSP was remastered from original sources with excellent results, this set is very inconsistent. I'm afraid I have to agree with a couple of other reviewers here. Some of the earliest tracks sound good. The latest tracks from 1947 and 1948 are also in decent sound. The rest, however, are often flat and "boxy" sounding. They're not terrible, just not up to the standard of some of the other JSP boxes. In fact, it's worth pointing out that there are two distinct types of JSP product out there. Some of the label's box sets contain music clearly remastered from original sources. Often, this remastering was done years ago (e. g. by the late John RT Davies or his protege Ted Kendall) and has now been repackaged in box sets. These are the box sets that have earned JSP its reputation for quality at a low price (the Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Mills Brothers, and first Django Reinhardt sets are examples). The other type of box set by JSP contains music derived from more mysterious sources. If you look carefully, these sets never credit anyone specifically for the remastering, and the sound is often inconsistent. Some of them are very good (the first Carter Family set, for example), and others are disappointing. Unfortunately, I have to place this second volume of Django Reinhardt's music in the latter category. That's too bad, because the music on this set is great. .

Django yes--- sound no.
The sound is a bit bland for my tastes, though. Django is my man, and I've always found these to be some of his most fetching recordings. JSP puts out an inconsistent product at times.

The Second Most Affordable Reinhardt Collection
Considering the source material, JSP did an excellent job remastering this collection. In my opinion, "Paris & London 1937-48" is slightly better than "Classic Early Recordings in Chronogical Order".

Bouncin' Around
Between the two sets I can load up the CD player with 9 discs and listen to this most unbelievable of all guitar players show off for hours at a time. For someone like me who loves every note Django Reinhardt ever played this 4-CD collection and another 5-CD set also available on Amazon, "Django Reinhardt: The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order," are the Holy Grail.

There is more swing, more fun, and more incredible guitar playing on these discs than you'll ever hear anywhere else.

Even though they contain no lengthy linear notes, 'free booklets,' posters, etc. , these are, without a doubt, the greatest multi-disc box sets I have ever heard.

Great guitar... and beyond!
One reason is that the "Early Recordings" are so great that I couldn't tear myself away, but another reason is that the "Paris and London" set includes more large-ensemble recordings that have taken me a little longer to appreciate. I got "Paris and London" and JSP's other great box set, "The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order," at roughly the same time, and for a while I listened constantly to the "Early Recordings" and pretty much neglected this set. By my taste, at least, Django is at his best in small acoustic settings (e. g. , in the famous Quintet of the Hot Club of France, or even soloing or just accompanied by piano). "Paris and London" does contain a number of songs by the original Hot Club (including Stephane Grappelli), and most of those rank with the very best on the "Early Recordings" set --- but there are also a number of wartime recordings (made while Grappelli was stranded in London) that have a more standard jazz ensemble sound (featuring Hubert Rostaing on clarinet in place of Grappelli's violin), as well as a few performed with large orchestras, and at first I found those a little less appealing. My view changed a little, though, when I read in Django's biography (by his contemporary, the French music critic Charles Delaunay) that by this stage of his career Django was becoming more interested in composing and arranging than in simply playing guitar, and that he felt there were more musical possibilities in larger groups than within the limitations of the string quintet (three guitars, bass and violin). So I've been going back and listening to these large-ensemble recordings with a new ear, and I guess I can say that it's expanded my musical horizons a little. As a guitarist myself, I'm naturally partial to Django's remarkable lead guitar playing, but with the larger groups his role is more like Duke Ellington's on the piano (that is, using his guitar more as the cohesion behind the arrangements than as a lead instrument). So on these recordings you get a fuller sense of Django's overall musical vision, beyond just his virtuoso guitar playing. In any case, even if you're mainly just interested in hearing Django's guitar, you won't be disappointed, because these recordings include some of his best. Also, I see that one reviewer criticized the sound quality of this set as compared to the "Early Recordings," but I'm not sure I'd agree. That reviewer may have better equipment and a more highly-trained ear than I do, but on my equipment these recordings sound just fine --- and in some cases even more sharp and clear than the "Early Recordings. " In any case, don't let that consideration deter you from purchasing this great 4-CD set. If you don't already own the "Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order," then by all means start with that. Then, if you like that set (and who wouldn't?), don't hesitate to get this one too. They both show Django at his best, and this one in particular shows his versatility and broad musical vision.

You can see a complete list of all Django Reinhardt discography, or go back to the Django Reinhardt tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.