开云体育

John,

It is wrong to say that Django has not influenced any jazz
guitarists. Django was a huge influence on virtually every jazz
guitar player from about 1940-1960. It's true that the gypsy style
that made him famous didn't make it into mainstream jazz, but this
doesn't mean that his influence was not strong.

Charlie Christian had great admiration for Django and apparently was
able to play his solos note for note. The first gig Wes had was one
in which he only played Django solos. Joe Pass released an entire
album called "For Django" and also started off playing Django style.
The list is endless. Of course all these guys had their own
distinctive styles, but there is a bit of Django in all of them! Of
course, for the original gypsy guitar style there is still an active
scene with guys like Birelli Lagrene, Stochello Rosenberg, Martin
Taylor, etc.

If you listen to Django's recordings after the second world war, he
has a much more modern sound and line-up. He was a passionate fan of
bebop after hearing Dizzy's "Salt Peanuts", immediately recognising
the contrafact. He played with Gillespie when Diz visited France in
the early 50s. He was also a big fan of Bird. Django's last
recordings were pure bebop and are well worth hearing if you can get
hold of them.

I don't think I would put Django at the top of the tree either, but I
would put him alongside Christian.

Rob