What Do We Call The Music of Django Reinhardt?

In 1928 Romani musical virtuoso “Django Reinhardt” burned the left side of his body in a caravan fire. He was told he would never play again but instead re-invented the guitar as a solo instrument to be played with only his two remaining fingers. That is the very very short of it as since his debut as the Romani "King of Swing,” Django Reinhardt (or as we often just call him, Django) has become a mythical figure in the canon of jazz guitar and a French and Romani cultural hero. 

Album cover of Waso, Famous Jazz Manouche Band from the '70s.

Django was a jazz musician first and foremost but his style was so incredibly unique that it left a whole genre in its wake. Jazz in its time was music for horns and drums. Django replaced this with instruments of his Romani (Sinti) culture. Instead of drums, Django was accompanied by two Selmer guitars playing a growling rhythm percussive enough to fit the role. The lead horns were given to Django’s solo guitar and the violin of Stephane Grappelli. Behind all of this was a double bass. The original Quintette of the Hot Club of France, featuring Django and Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, Stephane Grappelli, and Louis Voila, found it difficult to market their music despite their genius. Few record labels were ready to produce swing music made entirely by stringed instruments. However, Django and every iteration of his band found fame internationally and much so he survived Nazi-occupied France which sought to exterminate both Romani and Swing music. 

Django died of an aneurysm in May 1953 at the age of 43 but his music lived on. Sinti Romani families integrated his stylings into their gospel and folk music, jazz musicians took inspiration from his tone, phrasing and composition. Most importantly his family carried his legacy through the work of French and German Sinti Romani who replicated the sound of his original quintette. Sometime in the 1970s this style became codified as “Gypsy Jazz.”

There are a few things that remain strange about this. Firstly, the name is offensive to some and was possibly codified by Romani musicians themselves. Second, the music is nowadays is played more by non-Romani (Gadje) than Romani themselves. And lastly, Django didn’t play “Gypsy Jazz,” Django just played jazz. 

The taxonomy of genres within jazz is difficult enough to sort through, so I present that we only attempt to look at the music associated with this music played by two guitars, a violin, and double bass (and often more). As not to beat a dead horse, we’re not going to use the “G word” anymore. If it needs to be mentioned we’ll use "G*psy,” stylized as such in its place. 

Some “solutions” to the naming problem have presented as follows —  the genre is called “G*psy Jazz” by Romani themselves and thus we shouldn’t mess with it — we should call it “Roma Jazz” instead — “Hot Club Music” — “French Acoustic Swing” — “Django Music” — and “Jazz Manouche.” 

When we start dissecting the common nomenclature “G*psy Jazz,” we run into the problem that it’s inherently offensive to many. There are many Sinti (that I am not trying to speak for) that use this word to describe themselves. For some, the reasoning is that this is an English word, some reclaim it, and others use its marketability associated with Gadje romanticizing the Romani lifestyle. This however is a decision to be made by Romani communities, not Gadje communities. Partaking in using the “G-word” however only prevails in marketing the racist romanticizing of music that is claimed “inherently G*psy.” 

"Roma Jazz" is a popular choice for “Anglo" venues that don’t want trouble brought to their business by displaying the “G-word” on their music adverts. This decision however is largely uneducated. If we claim that this music originates with Sinti then we are erasing them from the story. Many Sinti prefer not to be called Roma as it is another group underneath the ethnic classification “Romani.” I’ve been told by some that they would rather be called the “G-word” or worse the “Z-word” over being called Roma. Still, there are arguments for unification under the term “Roma” but this isn’t a battle I’m qualified to fight. 

“Hot Club Music” is an alright choice but it carries no connection to Django. This music often also carries no connection to “Hot Club” or early jazz stylings. Many musicians play this Django inspired music with repertoires from bebop, post-bop, classical, tango, flamenco, Bossa nova, and more. “French Acoustic Swing” misses the point as well through misrepresenting where the music comes from and what it may sound like. And frankly “Django Music” has zero marketability except for the fanatic. 

Our final option listed is what I believe is best, yet not perfect, for the common three-guitar, violin, double bass bands that we find all over the world playing compositions both by Django and perhaps Monk. “Manouche'' is an autonym. That means it comes from the people. Django was Romani, but more specifically Sinti, and even more specifically, Manouche. This style isn’t played entirely by Manouche and wasn’t entirely popularized by Manouche; but it pays respect to Django, which is something I think we can all agree on.