Minor Swing (composition)
"Minor Swing" is a popular Gypsy jazz tune composed by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. It was first recorded by The Quintet of the Hot Club of France in 1937. It was recorded four other times throughout Reinhardt's career and is considered to be one of his most covered compositions, as well as a Gypsy jazz standard.[1]
The song was released as a 78 single on the French Swing label in 1937 as SW.23A, Matrix #OLA1990-1, featuring Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli under the group name Quintette du Hot Club de France.
Personnel
On the first recording on 25 November 1937, the Quintette du Hot Club de France consisted of:[2]
- Django Reinhardt – guitar
- Stéphane Grappelli – violin
- Joseph Reinhardt – guitar
- Eugene Vees – guitar
- Louis Vola – bass
Covers
Notable Covers Include[3]
- The David Grisman Quintet
- Biréli Lagrène
- Quinteto de Hernan Oliva in 1972
- Jean Bonal in 1974
- Eric McFadden and Stanton Hirsch
- Mattias Eklundh on his Freak Guitar:The Road Less Travelled album.
- Rachel Portman on the soundtrack for the 2000 film Chocolat
- Esthero also samples the intro throughout her song "Wikked Lil' Grrrls".
- The Rosenberg Trio in 1993
- Martin Taylor in 1994
- Angelo Debarre
- Potzi Trio
- Andy Leftwich (Album: Ride, 2003)
- Swingrowers sample the original to create an electro swing version in 2012
In the media
Movies
- 1974 Movie Lacombe, Lucien
- 1993 Movie Arizona Dream
- 1999 Movie The Matrix[4]
- 1999 Movie Metroland
- 2000 Movie Chocolat[5]
Videogames
- 2002 Videogame Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven[6]
See also
Notes
- ^ Dregni, Michael (2004). Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend. Oxford University Press US. p. 138. ISBN 0-19-516752-X.
- ^ Murphy, Frank. "Django Reinhardt: Minor Swing". Jazz.com. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ Minor Swing. Second Hand Songs.
- ^ The Matrix (1999). Soundtracks. IMDB.
- ^ Chocolat (2000). Soundtracks. IMDB.
- ^ Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven.