Django Reinhardt

Many people consider Django Reinhardt and the whole Gypsy Guitar style as a precursor to Jazz Guitar, but not an integral part of its history. Joe Pass considered Django to be important enough to dedicate his best album to him, which is a tribute to Django's unique melodic style.

While most people know Django's acoustic guitar work from his "Hot Club" days, Django also made some great recordings on electric guitar towards the end of his life. The recordings included below are from his last recording session, and based on how great they are, we can only speculate how Jazz Guitar history would have changed if Django had made more recordings in this setting.

• Fine and Dandy - A brilliant electric guitar solo on an up-tempo jazz standard. Recorded in January, 1953 - this solo sounds totally modern.
• Le Soir - A double-time solo on an original ballad and an inspired ending from a recording session in April 1953, which is considered Django's last. You can hear how much these recordings influenced Joe Pass: the melodic phrasing, the ascending augmented licks and the ending cadence were all influences that Joe Pass picked up from Django.