Stephane came to the UK from France as World War 2 broke out and remained there for the duration of the war.
These recordings were made in London between 1939 and 1946 and feature Stephane with British musicians from the dance band age. Django himself appears on the first and last tracks.
Sound is variable as the recordings were taken from 78 rpm records and this version comes from a re-issue cd with one of the worst titles ever. I can't remember where it came from so thanks to some unknown uploader.
Said to be FLAC with a cover picture and track/personnel details.
(01)
Django Reinhardt - guitar
Joseph Reinhardt - guitar
Eugene Vees - guitar
Emmanuel Soudieux - bass
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
(02-07)
Arthur Young - piano, novachord
Stanley Andrews - trumpet, clarinet, violin (02-04)
Bill Shakespeare - trumpet (05-07)
Dennis Moonan - tenor, clarinet
Frank Baron - piano (02-06)
George Shearking - piano (07)
Chappie d'Amato - guitar
Jack Llewellyn - guitar
George Senior - bass
Tony Spurgin - drums
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
Beryl Davis - vocal (02 03)
(08-10)
Reg Conroy - vibes
George Shearing - piano
Jack Llewellyn - guitar
Harry Chapman - harp
Hank Hobson - bass
Al Philcock - drums
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
Stanley Andrews - violin
(11-13)
George Shearing - piano
Sid Jacobson - guitar
Harry Chapman - harp
George Gibbs - bass
Jock Jacobson - drums
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
Stan Andrews - violin
Eugene Pini - violin
Dennis Moonan - alto violin
unknown - cello
(14-16)
George Shearing - piano
Jack Llewellyn - guitar
George Gibbs - bass
Dave Fullerton - drums
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
(17-18)
Dennis Moonan - leader, tenor, vocal
Bruce Campbell - trumpet, trombone
Stan Andrews - trumpet, violin
Carl Barriteau - alto, clarinet
Roy Marsh - vibes
George Shearing - piano
Charlie Pude - novachord
Chappie d'Amato - guitar
Alf Leah - bass
Len Hunt - drums
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
Dave Fullerton - vocal (18)
(19 20)
unknown - baritone
George Shearing - piano
unknown - guitar
unknown - bass
Dave Fullerton - drums, vocal
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
(21 22)
George Shearing - piano
unknown - guitar
unknown - guitar
unknown - bass
Dave Fullerton - drums
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
Beryl Davis - vocal
(23)
unknown - other instruments
George Shearing - piano
unknown - guitar
unknown - bass
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
unknown - strings
Doreen Henry - vocal
(24)
Django Reinhardt - guitar (solo)
Jack Llewellyn - guitar
Alan Hodgkins - guitar
Stéphane Grappelli- violin
Coleridge Goode - drums
01 H.C.Q. Strut (Reinhardt, Grappelli) (2:56)
02 Blue Skies (Berlin) (3:09)
03 I Got Rhythm (Gershwin) (3:03)
04 In The Mood (Garland, Razaf) (2:44)
05 Mind, The Handel's Hot (Grappelli) (3:20)
06 How Am I To Know? (King, Parker) (2:56)
07 The Sheik Of Araby (Snyder, Smith, Wheeler, Mills) (3:11)
08 I Never Knew (Egan, Marsh, Pitts) (2:42)
09 After You've Gone (Creamer, Layton) (3:13)
10 Stephane's Tune (Grappelli) (3:02)
11 Sweet Sue, Just You (Harris, Young) (2:38)
12 Tiger Rag (DaCosta, Edwards, LaRocca, Ragas, Sbarbaro, Shields) (2:33)
13 Stephane's Blues (Grappelli) (3:23)
14 Dinah (Akst, Lewis, Young) (3:23)
15 Body And Soul (Green, Eyton) (3:29)
16 Jive Bomber (Grappelli) (3:31)
17 Liza (Gershwin) (3:09)
18 The Folks Who Live On The Hill (Kern, Hammerstein) (3:29)
19 Stardust (Carmichael) (3:30)
20 J'attendrai [Au Revoir] (Reinhardt, Grappelli) (3:27)
21 I'm Confessin' (Daugherty, Neiburg, Reynolds) (3:17)
22 Someday Sweetheart (Spikes) (2:50)
23 Sugar (Alexander, Mitchell, Pinkard) (2:59)
24 Nuages (Reinhardt) (3:21)
Label: Saga Jazz 18
Recorded: 1939-1946
August 25 1939 (01)
February 24 1040 (02)
March 19 1940 (03 04)
April 19 1940 (05 06)
July 08 1940 (07)
July 30 1940 ((08-10)
February 28 1941 (11-13)
April 09 1941 (14-16)
August 20 1942 (17 18)
January 28 1943 (19 20)
June 10 1944 (21 22)
October 25 1945 (23)
February 01 1946 (24)
Interesting collection of wartime Grappelli recordings (strange that the Romany, Django, thought it appropriate to return to a Paris soon to be occupied by racist Nazis but he seemed to get to know the "right" people). Beryl Davis certainly improved as a singer over the period. Could have done without the dreadful novachord (and that awful album title). Good to hear early Shearing. Final note on the personnel for tracks 11 to 13: I suspect the instrument Dennis Moonan plays is actually a viola - "alto" is French usage for that instrument - so the instrumentation for those tracks would be Grappelli's sextet plus a standard, classical string quartet.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interesting reflections, Mike. Viola it is - amended on front page at least.
DeleteMany thanks, Rodney, for sharing these rare sides. Particularly interested in hearing early Shearing.
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