Djangology (1934-1935) (Reinhardt, Vol. 1)

Album review

With this release, the folks at super-budget Naxos begin what listeners hope will be a long string of low-priced, but not cheap, reissues of the output of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Throughout, the Quintet consists of Django and Joseph Reinhardt, and Roger Chaput or Pierre Ferret on guitars, bassists Louis Vola or Tony Rovira, and the inimitable Stephane Grappelli on violin; on "Avalon," they are joined by three trumpets and a trombone. Now that these recordings are in the public domain, lots of small labels have taken a crack at them in the CD era, so these performances are around and will continue to be circulated as long as people have ears. But Naxos' edition is very tempting not only for the price, but for the manner in which producer David Lennick has tried to let the natural sound of the original 78s come through. Unlike most labels large and small, Lennick doesn't roll off the bass, so at last those who do not collect 78s can hear the booming tones of the QHCF basses. Nor does he roll off or exaggerate the treble, or remove all of the swishing sounds in some of the pressings. As a result, although transfers like those of "St. Louis Blues" and "Some of These Days" still do not quite have the presence of the originals, they do have a surprising amount of life, and "It Don't Mean a Thing" actually benefits from the improved clarity. As a result, these transfers could change a lot of present-day perceptions about this vital, swinging outfit. While the CD covers most, though not all, of the early Ultraphone and Decca sessions of the Quintet, Naxos scrambles up the chronological sequence, the one miscalculation in an otherwise promising launch.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo