THE PURIST AND VIRTUOSO ELECTRIC GUITAR BETWEEN THE 1940S AND 1960S IN THE PERFORMANCES OF DJANGO REINHARDT AND GEORGE BARNES
La guitare électrique puriste et virtuose des années 1940 à 1960 dans les interprétations de Django Reinhardt et George Barnes
Résumé
The French guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) and the American guitarist George Barnes (1921-1977) are two jazz musicians who became famous for their new stylistics and very differentiated playing technique they brought to their instruments, which were highly innovative for the time. They enabled the instrument to develop through playing techniques and were among the first musicians to consider electric guitar as a solo instrument. Django Reinhardt only belatedly started playing the electric guitar in the 1940s. This had an impact on his style and led him from gypsy jazz to bebop in his last recordings, more specifically in his works such as Babik and Rhythm Futur. As for George Barnes, he began in the United States with an amplified guitar and took a very early interest in making his instrument of choice a solo and chamber music instrument: “My brother was an electrics expert so he made a pickup out of a carbon container (…). There were no commercially-made instruments available, but a lot of guys were experimenting. In those days the guitarist was the lowest man in the band. If anybody was to be fired, it was the guitarist. Even in big-bands the guitarist was lucky to get an eight bar solo […] 2”. The soloist aesthetic sought after by Barnes can be found, especially in a recording of George Barnes and his octet from 1946, including performances of jazz standards such as I can’t give you anything but love. Based on the analysis of recordings and music scores, this paper sets out to study the stylistic and aesthetic changes in the playing techniques of these two musicians that was enabled by electrical amplification.
Le guitariste français Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) et le guitariste américain George Barnes (1921-1977) sont deux musiciens de jazz devenus célèbres grâce aux nouvelles stylistiques et au jeu très différencié qu’ils ont apporté à leur instrument. Ils ont permis à l’instrument de se développer à travers des techniques de jeux et ont été parmi les premiers musiciens à voir en la guitare électrique un instrument soliste. Ce n’est que très tardivement, dans les années 1940, que Django Reinhardt commence à jouer avec une guitare électrique. Cela aura des répercussions sur son style et favorisera son passage du jazz manouche au be-bop de ses derniers
enregistrements, et plus spécifiquement dans ses œuvres comme Babiket Rhythm Futur. George Barnes, quant à lui, débutera aux États-Unis avec une guitare amplifiée et cherchera très tôt à faire de son instrument de prédilection un instrument soliste et de musique de chambre: « My brother was an electrics expert so he made a microphone out of a carbon container […]. There were no commercially-made instruments available, but a lot of guys were experimenting. In those days the guitarist was the lowest man in the band. If anybody was to be fired, it was the guitarist. Even in big-bands the guitarist was lucky to get an eight bar solo 1. » On retrouve notamment
l’esthétique soliste recherchée par Barnes dans un enregistrement de 1946, George Barnes and His Octet, avec des interprétations de standards du jazz comme I Can’t Give You Anything But Love. En se fondant sur l’analyse d’enregistrements et de partitions, nous mettrons en évidence les modifications stylistiques et esthétiques que l’amplification électrique a apportées au jeu de ces deux musiciens.
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