Django Reinhardt.

I posted the text below in another thread (ie, "Favorite recent discovery"). I highly recommend Duane Andrews, and the recording quality of his cd is excellent. I also recommend the 4 box set "Django in Rome". It's well worth the money ($20 @ Amazon.com), recording quality notwithstanding.

Finally - thanks for this thread, and the posts above - I am also looking for more Django recommendations.

>>>>>
I was in Nova Scotia this summer, and while in Halifax the annual Jazz East jazz festival was playing. I caught one night only which opened up with Duane Andrews. He's a Django Reinhardt follower, and his playing was mezmerizing. I bought his CD (he only has one out) and it's been in regular rotation since.
Since I enjoy his music so much I decided to check out his primary influence - Django, with whom I was previously unfamiliar. I bought the box set "Django in Rome" and it's great - 4 CD's, over 4 hours of live music, though it has the 40's era recording tone - kind of "tinny" sounding.
If anyone is aware of good (ie at least near-audiophile) recording quality offerings from Django, I'd appreciate a recommendation.
If interested in hearing samples of Duane Andrews - he has a web site: www.duaneandrews.ca As far as I know, the only way to get his cd is at one of his shows, or from his web site. If you do the latter, don't be surprised if it taks a long time to arrive. Mine took over 4 weeks. I think the distribution firm he uses is small, unless they had to print up more copies.

The one CD compilation Django Reinherdt Verve Jazz Masters 38 is a good start.

Yeah, most recordings of him are not so hot.

Thanks, everyone. I kinda knew there would not be any great recordings, given the era, so I guess I meant the better ones. How I became interested, was, while listening to CBC Radio 2 a while back, the host was interviewing an author who had just completed a book on Django. The authors research and dedication was impressive, almost like a passion. What was shared over the radio in regards to Django was amazing (tid bits on his life, his personality, and pieces of his music). I honestly knew very, very little of him, and now know just a little more. From what I heard, how could a person not be intrigued? While I am not sure of the book's title, I do recall the author was a columnist for The New York Times, or the NYT had some relevant influence, so if anyone wants to read it (as do I) I don't believe it will be too hard to source. This mans life sounds amazing.

There is a web site devoted to this type of music

http://www.gypsyjazz.net/

Didn't see any mention of Hot Club of San Francisco, they have several Audiophile recordings. I especially like the ones on Clarity Recordings

Happy listening

On a related note, the Woody Allen movie "Sweet and Lowdown" (starring Sean Penn) is an enjoyable look at the music of Django's era. The character of Django himself puts in a pivotal cameo.