Jean Baptist Django Reinhardt was born in a gypsy caravan during the night of January 23, 1910, in the Belgian town of Liberchies, near Charleroi. Still in his teens, he played the banjo, then the guitar, with the popular Italian gypsy accordeonist Vetese Guerino in the cafees and the night clubs of the French province of Auvergne.

On November 2, 1928, tragedy struck, when a fire destroyed the Reinhardt's caravan. Django and his wife escaped, but Django suffered horrible burns over half of his body.

While recovering, Django taught himself to play again with his injured left hand. He acquired an amazing dexterity with his first two fingers. He learned to grip the guitar with one finger on the E string and the next finger on the B. That accounts for some of those chord progressions which Django was the first to perform on the guitar, developing a revolutionary new technique for only three fingers. With this style, Django launched the guitar as the new symbol of Belgian jazz.

Django was the first jazz virtuoso guitar player. Mixing musette, traditional gypsy and his lightning-fast solo's with swing-jazz, he created the "Hot Club" swing genre. Around the 1930's-1940's, this Gypsy Swing became the leading genre in Brussels and Paris. With violinist Stephane Grapelli, he founded the legendary Hot Club de France quintet that recorded over 200 songs, each of them becoming a classic.

During the second world war, Django returned to his nomadic lifestyle, trying to stay clear of the German's anti-gypsy razzias. After the war, he visited the USA, invited by Duke Ellington.

When he once met Andres Segovia, he played for the Spanish classical maestro a short jazz piece on his Selmer guitar. When Django finished, Segovia was dazzled by the piece and asked for a transcription. Django laughed and shrugged, saying that it was merely an improvisation.

Django died on May 16, 1953. He was only 43 years old. From 1928 to 1953, he recorded some 750 to 1000 songs.

Django Reinhardt is considered as the greatest jazz guitarist ever. Stephane Grappelli summed up Django’s playing in a Melody Maker interview:

"He did more for the guitar than any other man in jazz. His way of playing was unlike anyone else’s, and jazz is different because of him. There can be many other fine guitarists, but never can there be another Reinhardt."

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