The documentary Django Reinhardt Three Fingered Lightning

I don't listen jazz very often, but when I do listen it's always a pleasure. I can't recall when and where I first heard about Django Reinhardt, but I recognized his name in a message I've got earlier... it contained the link to this documentary that tells the story of the extraordinary and legendary life of the man who is referred to as the greatest jazz guitar player of all times.

The duration is 52 minutes, enough to introduces us to those who worked with him, lived with him and loved him. The film shows us how his mutilated left hand becomes a major asset of his musical creativity and later his discovery of jazz through Louis Armstrong’s work.

You can find more information about the movie here, its director was Christian Cascio. Production date 2010, it was recorded in Paris and île-de-France by Idéale Audience / PB Production / INA. Just watch watch it (there are available versions in FR ST EN)... it's interesting enought for you to spend one good hour.

Uniquely, Django Reinhardt fits several simultaneous archetypes. He is the streetwise kid turned celebrity. He is the miraculous surivor of an accident who went on to overcome his handicap. He is the illiterate who used musical notes as a universal language. He is the whimsical musician who defied every setback. Django Reinhardt was already a legend in his own lifetime, and this film tells of the life and times of a genius to whom death came too early. Yet another, final archetype. But above all it allows us to discover the dazzling talent of one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the twentieth century.