Django Reinhardt was a Gypsy Jazz guitarist who needs little to no introduction in the world of music. Although his music was at its peak in the 1930s, nearly 100 years ago at the time of writing, he made some amazing guitar-led tunes with melodic improvisational soloing, which was a brand new thing at the time, despite the fact he lost some mobility in his fretting hand due to a campfire accident. Regardless, the Djangologie series of compilations of Django Reinhardt’s music are essential listens for those who need a good dose of history, guitars and Jazz thrown into a melting pot of awesomeness. This is volume four of the Djangologie series. Let’s take a listen to this collection and hear if it is any good.

Parfum begins with a clanging guitar chord and odd-sounding acoustic guitar playing by Django Reinhardt. This is a solo acoustic piece that gradually launches into something pretty and brilliant. Django Reinhardt shows the world his brilliance and mastery of his guitar with his unique and fluid technique as a player. It sounds like something completely out of this world, playing wonderfully and beautifully here. The clanging chords and pseudo-Shred guitar make for something wonderful and unique on this track. A joy to hear, and a great way to begin such a compilation of Django Reinhardt’s works. This sounds really fantastic and unique, perfect for playing in the background on a hot summer day. It slows down at the end before some super shred finishes it off. Excellent.

Alabamy Bound features Stephane Grappelli. It begins as a very old-fashioned and chugging listen with guitar and violin galore. Again, this does sound really decent and fantastic to listen to. It may be nearly 100 years since this was recorded, but it sounds as though it is still very relevant to this day. It is the musical equivalent of Jazz on a steam train. Nonetheless, a really decent and brilliant listen throughout that is enough to dance and bop along to. A fine and fantastic listening experience by Django Reinhardt and company, this is a real winner. The guitar playing in particular is very frenetic throughout. A great tune, and worth repeat listens. Awesome and amazing to hear from start to finish.

Honeysuckle Rose features Benny Carter and Hawkins C. All Star Jam Band. It begins with a superbly Jazzy sounding band piece section that sounds outstandingly great. A really cool and great listening experience, this has some insanely good saxophone soloing soon into it, which sounds clever and great. A really gorgeous and dynamic listen, this is something that should be easily remembered by the listener. It sounds pretty, different and unique throughout. A cool tune, it is addictive listening and just sounds awesomely and insanely brilliant. In the second half, Django Reinhardt does his thing on his guitar, whilst the saxophone and guitar play tag here. A dramatic and fantastic listen.

Crazy Rhythm features Coleman Hawkins. It begins as a tremendously wonderful and quick paced piece with guitar and saxophone galore. Something amazing and unique is here, and although Django Reinhardt’s playing is less noticeable here, he does extremely well on this piece, as do the others. An extremely cool listen, the saxophone soloing is tremendously awesome to hear. A fresh and unique take on the music at the time that has lasted many decades, Django Reinhardt and company deserve the praise that they can get where they can. A really awesome listen throughout, this is a crowd pleaser with someone here recorded saying, “Come on, go on!” towards the end. A really great tune to hear and enjoy, timeless music from the 1930s. It ends abruptly.

Out Of Nowhere features the Hawkins C. All Star Jam Band. It begins slowly with some melodic acoustic guitar before the rest of the band enters with trombone and other Jazz-based playing. It sounds wonderful here and is a beautifully unique and pretty piece of music. There are dramatic flourishes of guitar throughout, making this a dramatic and unique piece of music. Towards the middle is some gorgeous saxophone and hi-hat based drumming that sounds really excellent. A fine and fantastic listening experience, this is extremely classy and decent Jazz based music to hear. Really cool, Django Reinhardt and guests play wonderfully on this tune. A real joy to hear, this sounds pretty and unique. Worth your ears, time and time again. A thoroughly great listening experience.

Sweet Georgia Brown features Coleman Hawkins. It begins with a dramatic set of drum rolls and quickly launches into some awesome Jazz extraordinaire. It sounds really brilliant, dynamic and different. The saxophone quickly takes over from the trumpet on this tune, and the whole thing sounds really brilliant. A really cool, clever and different listening experience, this eventually has some cool piccolo trumpet as well. An excellent listening experience that never gets old, the horn solos throughout this tune are amazing and exquisite. Django Reinhardt’s playing in the background is really fantastic, too. A great, great listen from start to finish, and something to play when you are in the mood for it. A called out, “Yeah!” is here towards the end, indicating that these guys knew how to play. It ends after three minutes, a great listen.

Bugle Call Rag features Dicky Wells. It begins with dramatic horns and launches into an excellent and expressive tune. Django Reinhardt fans may note that this part of the compilation has very little overt guitar about it. Still, this is a winner. The whole band plays brilliantly here, and the tunes are really beyond fantastic to hear, they are dramatically awesome. A great listen, to this very day. There is a really great section in the second half for the horns to sing right through to the best of their abilities. A really awesome and cool listening experience, this sounds worthy of a listen. A Jazzy and extraordinarily great listen from start to finish.

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea features Dicky Wells. It begins with more dramatic horn sections and launches into some very old fashioned Jazz music that sounds really clever, excellent and brilliant. A really cool and interesting tune, this is how the 1930s sounded in retrospect, amidst the horrors of the Great Depression and in between World War I and World War II. This music still shines very bright today. Django Reinhardt finally gets a good guitar solo to play, before the horns quickly return here, and the group plays like there is no tomorrow. A really great piece of music to listen to, this sounds amazing. It ends with some good horn playing, nice work.

I Got Rhythm features Dicky Wells. It is another Jazzy instrumental that deserves to be heard when one is in the mood for some good old fashioned and different sounding Jazz band music. Really cool to hear, this music is extraordinarily well-paced, awesome and worth hearing. It may be from way back in 1937, but it still sounds really good enough to be appreciated today. A great tune that is sweet, upbeat and different, the playing by the band is really fantastic throughout. Nonetheless, this is a great tune. It works extraordinarily well for the listener and just works outstandingly. The second half has some sustained horns which are cool. Decent to hear.

Sweet Sue features Dicky Wells. It begins with a more guitar-based focus and trumpet as well. This is a better track on this compilation, sounding really forward-thinking and musically excellent. A really cool listen, this is a look back to a life and times that were much simpler in the past. A great and grand listening experience, this sounds cool and unique throughout. A really joyful and different listen, the music here fortunately has lasted many years into the future. Exactly the sort of thing one needs to hear if they value musical history, a dramatic and rousing tune. The trumpets throughout sound really top. A wonderful and cool listen.

Hangin’ Around Boudon features Dicky Wells. It has a clanging drum lead-in, quickly followed by the rest of the band, notably the trumpet. It sounds, again, very good. Django Reinhardt plays some really excellent guitar soloing here and works up a real treat throughout. Nonetheless, this is a swell listening experience that sounds extraordinarily good. There is some wordless singing here, which is refreshing and different as well. A cool and sweet listening experience, this is a slower yet melodic tune that sounds awesome to this very day. A trumpet solo emerges towards the end, which sounds killer. A great listen from start to finish.

Japanese Sandman is a strange title for such a song featuring Dicky Wells. It begins with horns and quickly launches into an awesome and cool tune that sounds refreshing. This is really stuff that would mostly appeal to old-school Jazz fans out there, not to people who would enjoy contemporary Pop/Rock culture. Still, it sounds excellent and wonderful throughout, being a really cool and wonderful tune to enjoy. A pleasant guitar solo is in the second half of this tune, and this tune is a joyful one. Django Reinhardt plays excellently and wonderfully here, just sounding classy and brilliant. A really cool and amazing tune nonetheless, despite the odd song title.

Pennies From Heaven features Andre Ekyan, and Frank Sinatra later referenced this song into one of his own. It begins with some dramatic guitar fills and is quickly followed by some great horn playing. This is quite a good tune, a bit more guitar-centered than what came before it. Nonetheless, it fits very well on this album and sounds really quite sweet. Halfway through, it changes tempo completely and lifts up to a different level altogether. A quirky tune, but a good listen, this is a joyous and expressive listening experience. A great piece of music, under three minutes in length.

Tiger Rag is the last tune here and features Andre Ekyan. It is a super quick and breezy tune, with loads of glorious trumpet to launch itself into. Again, a very noteworthy and expressively impressive tune to listen to. It just sounds really quirky and dramatic throughout. A cool tune to listen to, this has a great deal of rich musical history and impact throughout. Django Reinhardt and company made some great music here, and Django Reinhardt’s guitar playing is frenetic and fantastic. Super cool, it demands Rayban shades to be worn upon listening. Another great tune to hear, and a fine finish to this collection of songs.

This is another great collection of fine music from Django Reinhardt and friends. The good news is that it is a great Jazz band collection of songs. However, this is not the best representation of Django Reinhardt as he is often outmixed with the other guests here. Nonetheless, this still works perfectly fine otherwise. Should you listen to this collection? If you liked the earlier Djangologie releases and want to hear more, go for it. Some other fans of different types of music will appreciate this as well. A fine effort overall.

1930s Jazz band work at its purest.

7/10