New / rare pic of Django Reinhardt and G. Lévecque

gatsby

Hi everyone,

I just created a post on Manoucheries about this "new"/rare picture of Django I found online. We obviously knew several other pictures from the same session, but this one seems to come out of nowhere.

http://guitarejazzmanouche.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32684

Happy Birthday Django, by the way.
To those of you who are under the fat Jonas snow storm (like myself), be safe and stay warm!
Nothing like being stranded at home with a few Django records...

Teddy Dupont

This is from the same source apparently dictated to Leveque by Django.

gatsby

Hi Teddy, Did you know the picture already?

Teddy Dupont

gatsby wrote: »

Hi Teddy, Did you know the picture already?

Yes it surfaced at the beginning of 2011. It came from Jean-Marie Pallen who claims he knew Leveque very well and has the manuscripts that Django dictated to him (Leveque). Here are a couple of other rare ones he has but they are only poor quality.

Teddy Dupont

Here he is talking about Django and playing Porto Cabello.

gatsby

Very interesting Teddy, thanks for the link, it's full of pictures I had never seen! The action on Django's Selmer looked really high...!

spatzo

It was high indeed and enough to prevent one of his english professional rhythm players to play on it when, as Django being ill, he let him take his Selmer to a recording cession

gatsby

I think Sacha Distel tried one of his Selmers too at Saint-Germain once and said one needed pliers (des pinces) not fingers to play that thing!

Teddy Dupont

Actually, Sam Adams who interviewed Django at the 1946 UK recording sessions and tried his guitar said ".....and when I played a few chords I was amazed at the lowness of the action". Allan Hodgkiss who played on those recordings and borrowed Django's guitar when he was ill in hospital said the strings were "exceedingly light gauge" and the guitar was battered and shabby but I don't think he mentioned the action.

Teddy Dupont

Sam Adams:-

spatzo

Hi teddy! I always had understood that Hodgkiss had found the action too high to be able to play Django's guitar without big efforts but maybe it was for light gauge indeed