Although I was already very familiar with jazz, I wasn't aware of Django and the Gypsy Swing / Swing Manouche.
One day, probably being 16, I discovered it and it changed my experience with music forever.
While my friends fantasized with motorcycles, I was dreaming to attend the Samois Sur Senne festival. This passion drove me to fly to Rome, Paris, Berlin, etc just to see Angelo Debarre or Rosenberg, to fanatically collect records that never made it to the digital era like Waso's, and what not.
For those that weren't exposed yet to it, please, let yourself be tempted. Allow Django's music touch you with its brutal delicacy and self-mocking irony.
Something similar happened to me. An artist I liked effusively praised Django Reinhardt in their CD liner notes. For a sheltered suburbanite, the words "Django Reinhardt" were more or less gobbledygook, so I had to figure out exactly who or what it meant and why it prompted one of my favorite guitarists to pen an ode of praise. All this sent me on a months-long quest to track down albums and information in a pre-search-engine flyover state about an obscure gypsy guitarist.
It wasn't till I was a year or so into knowing about Django Reinhardt that I learned he did it all with just two fingers on his left hand. It blew my mind.
I wonder if we've gained or lost something culturally by having the detailed discography and life story of every artist in our pockets.
We gained a lot! In fact, I think we are approaching the possible maximum (that maximum obviously being the nineties/early 2000 days of audiogalaxy, napster etc... when people shared pretty much any kind of music).
One day, probably being 16, I discovered it and it changed my experience with music forever.
While my friends fantasized with motorcycles, I was dreaming to attend the Samois Sur Senne festival. This passion drove me to fly to Rome, Paris, Berlin, etc just to see Angelo Debarre or Rosenberg, to fanatically collect records that never made it to the digital era like Waso's, and what not.
For those that weren't exposed yet to it, please, let yourself be tempted. Allow Django's music touch you with its brutal delicacy and self-mocking irony.
Now, after 30 years, I still love it.