How to pronounce "Django" Reinhardt's moniker?

Naphtali · Nov 23, 2008

Moderator: I am unsure whether this query belongs here, or in CONNOISSEUR forum.
***
I recently discovered a jazz group of the Golden Age, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, featuring Belgian guitarist, Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt. Reinhardt has a professional moniker, Django. I have no idea how this is pronounced. Can anyone help me out?

B. F. Socaspi · Nov 23, 2008

Ah, the only place a young man like myself won't get made fun of for knowing this!

JANG-oh.

Like dang or fang. Jang.

BellyTank · Nov 23, 2008

Yeh,

Django, like Djibouti.

B
T

WildCelt · Nov 23, 2008

B. F. Socaspi said:
JANG-oh.

I always thought it was more JANG-goh, with the "g" more pronounced.

Dinerman · Nov 23, 2008

it's said the way the narrator says it here:
http://www.clipser.com/watch_video/154168

WildCelt · Nov 23, 2008

Danké, Dinerman.

JohnnyGringo · Nov 23, 2008

Amazing Guitarist!

Dixon Cannon · Nov 23, 2008

G as in George! ...like jango!

Then you have to see the movie "Sweet and Lowdown" with Sean Penn.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158371/combined

-dixon 'Emmet Ray' cannon

Paisley · Nov 24, 2008

Django rhymes with tango. The D is silent.

Great clip, Dinerman!

Chad Sanborn · Nov 24, 2008

His music is Awesome!
If you ever want to be inspired, read his life story. He was an amazing person!

Naphtali · Nov 24, 2008

Many thanks, people.

I heard Quintet of the Hot Club of France's rendition of "Honeysuckle Rose" about three months ago and was dazzled by its vibrance. It took me until about two weeks ago to find a CD of theirs. I understand the group recorded nearly as much as Sinatra (1100+ songs on albums). I'm uncertain who I enjoy more, Reinhardt or Grappelli, the quintet's violinist.

Delthayre · Nov 24, 2008

More information than you require

I've usually pronounced it /dZaNgo/ (for those not learned in the arcane ASCII-runes of X-SAMPA: that's equivalent to JANG-goh).

The sound represented by <j> in English is a slightly curious one. It is what linguists generally term, "an affricate," which is to say, depending upon what interpretation one subscribes to, a combination of two sounds or two sounds pronounce in rapid succession. In the case of <j> the sounds (/dZ/) are a voiced alveolar stop (a < d >) and a voiced palato-alveolar fricative (the sound of the < s > in measure). The digraph <ch> represents the unvoiced form of the same affricate.

rmrdaddy · Nov 24, 2008

Dixon Cannon said:
Then you have to see the movie "Sweet and Lowdown" with Sean Penn.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158371/combined

-dixon 'Emmet Ray' cannon

Spot on Dixon!

The guy who plays guitar on the soundtrack is named Howard Alden. I hadn't heard of him before that movie, but man, that man can play that music!

Miss Neecerie · Nov 24, 2008

Delthayre said:
I've usually pronounced it /dZaNgo/ (for those not learned in the arcane ASCII-runes of X-SAMPA: that's equivalent to JANG-goh).

The sound represented by <j> in English is a slightly curious one. It is what linguists generally term, "an affricate," which is to say, depending upon what interpretation one subscribes to, a combination of two sounds or two sounds pronounce in rapid succession. In the case of <j> the sounds (/dZ/) are a voiced alveolar stop (a <d>) and a voiced palato-alveolar fricative (the sound of the < s > in measure). The digraph <ch> represents the unvoiced form of the same affricate.

*swoons*

indeed more then they need to know, but I can swoon at the IPA and lovely explanation.

Affricate indeed.

Dr Doran · Nov 24, 2008

I have pronounced it dzhaynggo for many years, but I do have an early Hot Club set on CD whose announcer pronounces it YONGGO. I am not kidding. YONGGO.

celtic · Nov 24, 2008

Dixon Cannon said:
Then you have to see the movie "Sweet and Lowdown" with Sean Penn.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158371/combined

-dixon 'Emmet Ray' cannon

EXACTLY what I was thinking.

I really love that movie.

warbird · Nov 24, 2008

Considering the fact that he lost most of the use of two fingers on his fret hand in a fire, his remarkable playing is even more so.

The Wolf · Nov 24, 2008

Doran, you have got to be kidding.
Coincidentally, I was listening to a tape Django on my home from work this evening. "Avalon" performed by him is one of my faves. I especially love his stuff with Grappelli on violin.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

Shaul-Ike Cohen · Nov 24, 2008

Doran said:
I have pronounced it dzhaynggo for many years, but I do have an early Hot Club set on CD whose announcer pronounces it YONGGO. I am not kidding. YONGGO.

Yes. There's some considerable space for variation, but this is about how the most typical French pronunciation can be transcribed to an American.

Step by step:

Dj - this can be anything from DZH and DY to ZH or Y. All would be authentic. (This is because French doesn't have all of these as different phonemes. For the same reason, when a Latin-American person says Yankie, it might sound like junkie.)

a - this is an actual short AH, not the English short A. Similar to the one in American English hot, English and American hut or Scottish English and German hat. Because of the following NG, it can be nasalised to any degree from zero to full.

ng - this is NGG, as in finger, not as in singer. Depending on the degree of nasalisation of the preceding A, it can be a mere G without the NG.

o - this is a short O, more closed than in English English bottle. The sound is similar to Scottish and some American English (long) Os in go, but not ending in a W as it would be in most English varieties in this position.

The stress is ambiguous -that's because in theory, each and every word in French is stressed on the last syllable, but then again, speakers unconsciously feel that the name Django is somehow stressed on the first syllable, so in reality, it usually gets two nearly equal stresses, with the last being just a tad stronger.

Next year: Django 201 - How To Pronounce "Reinhardt"

EDIT: Forgot to add that the A may have a slight Ä flavour, and the O a slight Ö flavour. Of course.

Baron Kurtz · Nov 24, 2008

First off, Django was his name. His only name; and he was very proud of it. A very strange one, and very mysterious amongst the gypsy community. It means, apparently, "I Awake". Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt was the name the family decided to tell the border guards when crossing from Germany into Belgium, or the other way, i don't recall. It stuck with him.

Check out Michael Dregni's excellent recent biography, and an earlier one by Charles Delaunay.

That clip that Dinerman posted is an excellent example of the Hot Club. They are clearly miming, or the sound and picture reels are not aligned properly. But you get to see his unbelievable technique; all that playing essentially with the index and middle fingers of his left hand, occasionally using the other fingers, which are almost paralyzed. And the perfect back-up from Baro Ferret and Nin-Nin "Reinhardt" (w/ moustache). See how the construction of the guitars allows an amazing depth and power of sound from the "rhythm" section, the driving force of the band. Baro Ferret was a gypsy guitar player of immense skill in his own right, and his few recordings under his own name bear testament to the fact that he was approaching Django in creativity and inventiveness.

Also this thread, which in its early pages contains a good discussion of the Hot Club with excellent input from the very knowledgeable NightAndTheCity.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=4957

bk

How to pronounce "Django" Reinhardt's moniker?

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