EVERY GENRE PROJECT - December 12 - Jazz manouche
Genre of the Day - Jazz manouche
Album of the Day - Django Reinhardt et ses rythmes by Django Reinhardt (1953)
At the time of writing this, I only just stumbled out of the library after having produced two rough drafts of papers that are both due mid-afternoon tomorrow in preparation for my last two finals of the year. Amid mild sleep deprivation, I am somewhere between dizzy and dutifully ready to keep on going. These papers are in addition to another writing-intensive final I took today. So, please do forgive me, but today’s article will be a little bit clipped as I squeeze in some rest before the final push. I am a surprisingly inefficient writer—it takes quite a bit of time to produce my run-ons and strange word choices.
Jazz manouche combines swing jazz with elements of Romani folk music. Where the freedom of jazz constituted a watershed moment for Black music in providing a platform for and manifesto of innovation and ingenuity, this extended to Romani musicians in France as part of a community that has been left to the periphery which we also coincidentally discussed yesterday in French hip-hop. Patterns in repeat, like everything, just as Laura Marling said on her excellent album that came out this year. Jazz manouche’s lineups are typically sparer, focused on a guitar and the violin as the two most essential mobile instruments.
Belgian Romani musician Django Reinhardt fused the swing jazz of the ‘50s with guitar innovation, making a solo name for himself after having played in a family band with seven brothers. His sound is delightful—perfect, springy jazz that hops with life, ideal for squeezing in between final examinations and essays. The crickety jumps of “Nuages” are a joy, cool piano playing and light-as-a-feather hi-hats providing an airy ambience. The masterful voicings of “Insensiblement” sound like an alchemical reaction between the master and his instrument. I may be clean out of words as my brain has been exhausted of its daily supply, but Reinhardt says it better with six strings than I ever could anyway.