Two of a Kind

SAG0017 2011-02-08

Track List

Cloud Castels - 3:26
Magic Strings - 3:29
Sweet Serenade - 3:16
Crazy Strings - 3:26
Novel Pets - 3:24
Budding Dancers - 2:36
Presentation Stomp - 3:10
Ici l'on Peche - 3:34
La Chanson Du Large - 3:20
Blue Interlude - 3:26
Deux Cigarettes Dans L'Ombre - 3:20
Avalon - 3:06
Oh Lady Be Good - 3:22
You Took Advantage Of Me - 3:00
Swinging With Django - 2:59
Paramount Stomp - 2:44
Serenade For A Wealthy Widow - 3:16
Taj Mahal - 3:23
Organ Grinder'S Swing - 2:40
Tea For Two - 3:18
Christmas Swing - 2:55
Sweet Sue - 2:34
It Had To Be You - 2:47
Melodie Au Crepuscule - 3:03

Musicians

01 Cloud Castles (M. van Hoorebecke) Polydor
02 Magic Strings (M. van Hoorebecke) Polydor
03 Sweet Serenade (M. van Hoorebecke) Polydor )
04 Crazy Strings (M. van Hoorebecke) Polydor
05 Novel Pets (M. van Hoorebecke) Polydor
06 Budding Dancers (M. van Hoorebecke) Polydor )
MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE Alex Renard (tp); Maurice Cizeron (as, fl); Alix Combelle (ts); Michel Warlop (vn, arr); Emile Stern (p); Django Reinhardt (g solo); Joseph Reinhardt (g); Louis Vola (b).
Paris, 17 April 1936

07 Presentation Stomp (M.Warlop) Gramophone
MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE: Marcel Dumont, Pierre Allier, Maurice Mouflard,
Noël Chiboust (tp); Isidore Bassart (tb); André Ekyan (cl, as); Alix Combelle (cl, ts);Amédée Charles (as); Charles Lisée (as, bar); Michel Warlop (vn, arr);
Stéphane Grappelli (p); Django Reinhardt (g); Roger Grasset (b); McGregor (d).
Paris, 16 March 1934

08 Ici, l’on pêche (J. Tranchant) Gramophone
GERMAINE SABLON acc. par MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE Marcel Dumont, Noël Chiboust (tp); Isidore Bassart (tb); André Ekyan (cl, as); Alix
Combelle (cl, ts); Amédée Charles (as); Charles Lisée (as, bar); Michel Warlop (vn, arr); Stéphane Grappelli (p); Django Reinhardt (g); Roger Grasset (b); McGregor (d); Germaine Sablon (voc).
Paris, 26 Feb. 1934

09 La Chanson du large (J. Tranchant) Gramophone
GERMAINE SABLON acc. par MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE same as 8.
Paris, 16 March 1934

10 Blue Interlude (M.Warlop) Gramophone OPG
MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE same as 7.
Paris, 12 May 1934

11 Deux cigarettes dans l’ombre (Two Cigarettes in the Dark) (L. Pollack, L. Palex) Columbia
LÉON MONOSSON acc. par ALAIN ROMANS DU POSTE PARISIEN ET SON ENSEMBLE
Michel Warlop, Stéphane Grappelli (vn); Alain Romans (p, celesta); Django Reinhardt (g);
poss. Lucien Simoëns (b); Léon Monosson (voc).
Paris, 9 Feb. 1935

12 Avalon (V. Rose, A. Jolson) Gramophone
COLEMAN HAWKINS acc. par MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE - avec ARTHUR BRIGGS
Noël Chiboust, Pierre Allier (tp); Arthur Briggs (tp solo - guest); Guy Paquinet (tb); André Ekyan, Charles Lisée (as, cl); Alix Combelle (ts, cl); Coleman Hawkins (ts solo - guest); Stéphane Grappelli (p); Django Reinhardt (g); Eugène D’Hellemmes (b);
Maurice Chaillou (d); Michel Warlop (dir).
Paris, 2 March 1935

13 Oh, Lady Be Good (G. & I. Gershwin) Swing
TRIO DE VIOLONS Michel Warlop (vn solo 1); Stéphane Grappelli (vn solo 2); Eddie South (vn solo 3);Django Reinhardt (g solo, arr); Roger Chaput (g); Wilson Myers (b).
Paris, 29 Sep. 1937

14 You Took Advantage of Me (R. Rodgers, L. Hart) Swing
Stéphane Grappelli (vn solo 1); Michel Warlop (vn solo 2); Django Reinhardt (g solo);Roger Chaput (g).
Paris, 29 Sep. 1937
15 Swinging with Django (D. Reinhardt, S. Grappelli) Swing

16 Paramount Stomp (D. Reinhardt, S. Grappelli) Swing
QUINTETTE DU HOT CLUB DE FRANCE ET MICHEL WARLOP Stéphane Grappelli (vn solo 1); Michel Warlop (vn solo 2); Django Reinhardt (g solo);
Joseph Reinhardt, Eugène Vées

17 Serenade for a Wealthy Widow (R. Foresythe, J. McHugh, D. Fields) Swing

18 Taj Mahal (M.Warlop) Swing

19 Organ Grinder’s Swing (W. Hudson, M. Parish, I. Mills) Swing OLA 2214-1 (2’38)
MICHEL WARLOP ET SON ORCHESTRE
André Pico (tp); André Lamory, Jean Magnien, Charles Schaaf (cl, saxes, fl); Georges Paquay (fl, d); Michel Warlop (vn); Pierre Zepilli (p); Django Reinhardt (g); Louis Vola (b).
Paris, 21 Dec. 1937

20 Tea for Two (V.Youmans, I. Caesar) Swing
Michel Warlop (vn); Django Reinhardt (g).
Paris, 21 Dec. 1937

21 Christmas Swing (D. Reinhardt) Swing
Michel Warlop (vn); Django Reinhardt (g); Louis Vola (b).
Paris, 21 Dec. 1937

22 Sweet Sue (V.Young,W. J. Harris) Swing
Michel Warlop (vn); Stéphane Grappelli (p); Django Reinhardt (g); Louis Vola (b)
Paris, 28 Dec. 1937

23 It Had to Be You (I. Jones,G. Kahn) Swing
PHILIPPE BRUN JAM BAND
Philippe Brun (tp); Alix Combelle (ts); Michel Warlop (vn); Stéphane Grappelli (p); Django Reinhardt (g); Louis Vola (b); Maurice Chaillou (d).
Paris, 28 Dec. 1937

24 Mélodie au crépuscule (D. Reinhardt, L. Riesner) Swing
DJANGO REINHARDT ET SON ORCHESTRE
4 cl-saxes; 3 vn; Michel Warlop (vn); Django Reinhardt (g solo); Eugène Vées (g);
Jean Storne (b); Pierre Fouad (d); Nelly Kay (voc).
Paris, 7 July 1943

When Django Reinhardt’s name is mentioned, we immediately think of the craziest of Gypsies, a billiard champion and a sporadic jazz guitarist, who played his instrument like no other, maimed by a terribly burnt left hand.We then associate his name with the violin,most often that of Stéphane Grappelli.And with reason: as the founders of the legendary string Quintet of the Hot club of France in 1934, and regardless of their disparate personalities, their separations and rows of every kind, they were ideal and perfectly complementary partners, in the same way as Bix Beiderbecke and Frank Trumbauer, Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines or, in the bebop era Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. With Django’s whimsicality and Stéphane’s tranquil solidity, the duo created a miraculous alliance of severity and freedom, of serenity and reverie.
Their association was so successful that one tends to forget the other musicians, in particular the other great French jazz violinist, Michel Warlop.
During the seventies, Grappelli confirmed that in those days (some forty years earlier), only Joe Venuti, Warlop and himself mastered the ‘hot’ violin. He overlooked Eddie South who, he said, ‘came alongmuch later’.This was totally false,but perhaps Stéphane only noticed him at a later date. On the other hand, he must have known Michel Warlop (1911-1947) for a while. Fresh from the Lille and Paris music academies, strung with awards of every kind, this young man from Douai (department of Nord) had enthralled Grégor, the leader of the first French jazz big band around spring 1930, who hired him, temporarily pushing Stéphane back to his piano stool. Despite their friendship and mutual admiration, the two specialists were to forever kindle some sort of unspoken rivalry. Grappelli, a master of round, warm sounds and effortless swing, considered that Warlop’s nervousness and extensive studies impeded spontaneity which was fundamental for swing. And yet, Michel Warlop swung sufficiently for Django’s ears to pick up and made his dark eyes glint.
Yet Michel also knew how to swing, but his style was in total contrast to Grappelli’s elegance. The former was a dare-devil who swung ruthlessly with no fioritura, captivating the guitarist whorecognised in him his alter ego. Extremely tempting.
Of course, Django made less recordings with Warlop than with Grappelli: some twenty instrumental sides in the 1934-1943 period plus a handful of titles accompanying various singers such as Germaine Sablon,Aimé Simon-Girard and Léon Monosson.With them,Warlop busied himself with leading the band and neglected his violin as can be heard in the two pieces by Germaine, Jean’s sister, included here. In fact, the first big session reuniting the two wild characters, when their reciprocal recognition truly began, was organised with a middle-sized outfit (along with saxophonist icon Alix Combelle and the worthy trumpeter Alex Renard) during the carefree and rainy spring 1936. The musicians came out with six superb sides, bearing rather bizarre English titles (Budding Dancers,Novel Pets etc.) which, judging by their extreme rarity could not have sold well.
Django had met Warlop and Grappelli at approximately the same time, in the year 1933 following a long period spent in the South of France when he had discovered jazz. Regardless, he continued to play with accordionists (particularly in the‘Boîte àMatelots’),whereas thetwo others belonged to one of the best dance bands headed by Grégor. Good it was, but the outfit disbanded in the summer of the same year.
Michel, a lover of composition and orchestration, then decided to create his own big band, which occasionally featured Stéphane on the piano and Django on the guitar. This was the group which backed the aforementioned singers. In spring ’34, it also cut two of Warlop’s compositions, Presentation Stomp and Blue Interlude. In the first title,Django plays a solo while Michel simply leads the band. However, in the second piece, the violinist can be heard,but Djangomerely provides the rhythmic backing. A little disappointed perhaps, the guitarist hardly participated in any of the band’s future sessions. In March 1935, he was billed at the Salle Pleyel, accompanying two admirable guests: veteran trumpeter Arthur Briggs and, in particular, Coleman Hawkins, King of the tenor sax, who had become European for a few years.A few discs were cut to commemorate the event and this time Django was present. He played a short solo in Avalon but Michel again preferred to clutch his baton.
Along with smaller andmore flexible outfits,Michel Warlop’s career was rich and tumultuous,with the flighty Gypsy participating according to his particular frame of mind. Consequently, the recordings made in 1936 and 1937 are the finest examples of the wild complicity between the two associates. Their combined inspiration creates a vertiginous climate (Crazy Strings, Magic Strings, Christmas Swing) or one of nostalgia (Tea for Two and the worthy Taj Mahal), quite apart from the Quintet’s calmer atmosphere.
The Quintet invited Warlop to join them in December 1937 to cut two less agitated sides, Swinging with Django (the same tune as Christmas Swing) and Paramount Stomp. This is an excellent opportunity to compare the contrasting styles of Stéphane (first solo in both titles) and Michel (second solo). Two additional sides, You Took Advantage of Me and Sweet Sue also feature both Warlop and Grappelli, but in the latter, Stéphane is on the piano. Gershwin’sadorable Oh, Lady Be Good offers an amicable triangular dual between Warlop, Grappelli and Eddie South (who supposedly wasn’t known to Grappelli!).
It remains a mystery why, after this exciting 1937 vintage,Michel and Django stopped seeing each other, in the studios at least. The latter pursued his adventure with Stéphane before founding the ‘new’ Quintet (clarinet replacing violin), whereas the former was imprisoned in 1940, released for health reasons and then joined Raymond Legrand’s big band, composing, orchestrating and sometimes performing in his sweet and sour string septet. In 1942, he came out with his Swing Concerto which he considered as his pride and joy. The following year, he was invited for the recording of Mélodie au crépuscule, along with the Septet’s three other violinists. No solos in this episode – it was simply tinted with the turmoil of the period. Michel Warlop was just a passing shadow, yet his differences with Grappelli were much later described as a tremendous chasm separating immense talent and genius.Who exactly was the talent and who was the genius? As for Django, having found his ideal complement in Stéphane,he found his counterpart in Michel."