Django Reinhardt
The story of Django Reinhardt’s life is as well known as it is legendary. Born in Belgium in 1910 to Manouche Romani parents who wintered there each year, his gadjo (non-Romani) name was Jean, but to everyone in Romani culture he was Django. Surrounded by music from birth, Django was a quick learner, a prodigy, and was playing professionally in Le Bal-Musette by his mid-teens.
The tragic accident that almost ended his life, let alone his career, is part of guitar folklore. At the age of just 18 he had returned to his caravan after a gig where his wife had prepared a batch of cellophane flowers to sell at market the next day. Django, having knocked a candle over, was confronted by a sudden inferno and suffered terrible burns over his entire left side as he fought to rescue his wife, and himself, from the flames. Many months rehabilitating in hospital eventually brought him back to health, but his left hand was left disfigured to the extent that the third and fourth fingers were drawn back, claw-like, into his palm. Here they remained for the rest of his life, unemployable for single lines, although he did eventually find a way to use them for doublestops when chording.
Left with just his first and second fingers for any lead lines, Django unwittingly created one of the great
