Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt aka Django Reinhart was the king of ‘gypsy jazz’, he was also one of those rare human beings that created something original and unlike anything any one had heard before. Born into the gypsy community in Belgium in 1910 the style he became so revered for, a mixing of Romany Rhythms and Parisian swing, was born out of necessity after, as a teenager, a caravan he was living in caught fire damaging his left hand and rendering his two last fingers unusable. Told he’d never play again Django not only re-taught himself using what he had but created the most mind boggling style and sound.
January would’ve been Django’s one-hundredth birthday, so tonight to celebrate the Barbican in partnership with Cinemoi are showing ‘Django Drom’ a multi-media work created by French Director Toni Gatlif. It features the likes of Didier Lockwood and Bireli Lagrene and explores Django’s gypsy roots and his life achievements in the jazz world.
Tonight at 20.30 at The Barbican London, tickets are from £15 and available here.
