| Paris 1945 | ||||
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| Studio album by Django Reinhardt | ||||
| Released | February 26, 1945 | |||
| Recorded | December 1944 to January 1945 in Paris, France | |||
| Genre | Swing jazz | |||
| Label | Columbia France | |||
| Django Reinhardt chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
Paris 1945 is a swing album featuring guitarist Django Reinhardt along with five members of Glenn Miller's Army Air Force big band. The album was recorded in Paris, France, and originally released in 1945.
Jean Reinhardt stage name Django Reinhardt, was a Belgian-born Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer, regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century. He was the first jazz talent to emerge from Europe and remains the most significant.
Alton Glenn Miller was an American big-band trombonist, arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was the best-selling recording artist from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best-known big bands. Miller's recordings include "In the Mood", "Moonlight Serenade", "Pennsylvania 6-5000", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "A String of Pearls", "At Last", "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo", "American Patrol", "Tuxedo Junction", "Elmer's Tune", and "Little Brown Jug". In just four years Glenn Miller scored 16 number-one records and 69 top ten hits—more than Elvis Presley and the Beatles did in their careers. While he was traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France during World War II, Miller's aircraft disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel.
On January 25, 1945, Reinhardt recorded four tunes with Bernie Privin on trumpet, Peanuts Hucko on tenor saxophone, Mel Powell on piano, Josz Schulman on bass and Ray McKinley on drums. [2] In addition to these four tracks, the album included four tracks of Hucko playing clarinet with a trio, and several tracks of Powell on solo piano. [3]
Bernard "Bernie" Privin was an American jazz trumpeter.
Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko was an American big band musician. His primary instrument was the clarinet but he sometimes played various saxophones.
Mel Powell was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, and the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. He served as a music educator for over 40 years, first at Mannes College of Music and Queens College, then Yale University, and finally at CalArts. During his early career he worked as a jazz pianist.
Miller's band members were all members of the United States Army Air Forces, and military regulations prohibited them from making commercial recordings. This led to a curious personnel listing on the original album that mentioned only Django Reinhardt by name. His accompanists were called the Jazz Club Mystery Hot Band, and the members were listed as U, V, W, X, Y and Z. [2] Later reissues properly credited Glenn Miller's All Stars, the Ray McKinley Trio and Mel Powell.
The United States Army Air Forces, informally known as the Air Force, or United States Army Air Force, was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army during and immediately after World War II (1939/41–1945), successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today, one of the five uniformed military services. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply, and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff.
