Django Reinhardt - At His Best Sweet & Lowdown (2001)

This two-disc collection from Spain's Definitive label is divided into two distinct periods in Django Reinhardt's career. The first disc is made up of various tracks from the original Hot Club of France Quintet with Stephane Grappelli and Louis Vola from 1936 and 1937. Classic and definitive performances of "I'se A Muggin," "Oriental Shuffle," "Sweet Chorus," "Mystery Pacific," "Are You In the Mood," and "Swing Guitars" are contained here, as well as wonderfully varied covers of such vernacular tunes as "Georgia On My Mind," "Limehouse Blues," "In A Sentimental Mood," and "Ain't Misbehavin'." Disc Two comprises recordings from Reinhardt made between 1940 and 1949, four of them guitar solos, and the rest with a wildly varying group of musicians. Two of the bands represented here are Django's American Swing Big Band and Django and His American Swing Band, which featured Shelton Heath, Bill Bethel, and Jim Hayes. The later material, as one would surmise, is far more adventurous, though sometimes the music suffers as a result of Reinhardt's experiments with tonality and volume. Nonetheless, for the price, this is a fine introduction to the greatest, yes, greatest, guitar stylist jazz has ever known.

Tracklist:

CD 1:
1. I'se a muggin'
2. I can't give you anything but love
3. Oriental shuffle
4. After you've gone
5. Are you in the moon
6. Limehouse blues
7. Nagaski
8. Swing guitars
9. Georgia on my ming
10. shine
11. In the still of the night
13. Hot lips
14. Ain't misbehavin'
15. Rose room
16. Body and soul
17. When day is done
18. Runnin' wild
19. Chicago
20. Liebestraum Nº3
21. Miss Annabelle Lee
22. A little love a little kiss
23. Mystery pacific
24. In a sentimental mood

CD 2:
1. Improvisation
2. Parfum
3. St.Louis blues
4. Minor swing
5. You rascal you
6. Sweet Georgia Brown
7. Tears
8. Daphné
9. Begin the beguine
10. swing '41
11. Nuages
12. Pour vous (Exactly like you)
13. vendredi 13
14. Mabel
15. Petits mensonges (Little white lies)
16. Les yeux noirs (Dark eyes)
17. sweet Sue
18. Swing de paris
19. Oiseaux de iles
20. All of me
21. Swing '42
22. Manoir de mes rêves
23. Djangology
24. Echoes of France (La Marsellaise)