Django Reinhardt was born into the lifestyle of his gypsy parents on January 24, 1910 in a village in Belgium known as Liberchies. Django, Romani for “I wake up,” has inspired and amazed various generations of musicians and jazz lovers with his remarkable guitar mastery and the story of his upbringing. At only eight years old, his parents settled near the barricades which surrounded the streets of old Paris. Until he was in his twenties, he had never really put down roots anywhere, never worn a suit or lived in a real house. These French Gypsies, also known as Manouches, lived in a world of their own, primitive in their thinking and skeptical of popular science. Django grew up in a lifestyle that was a great contradiction, one moment he was in the teeming city of Paris and the next he found himself in the old-fashioned life of a wandering gypsy. Although Django was born into a difficult life, he had a righteous and honorable soul, which ultimately manifested itself in his music. Django was interested in music from a young age. He was given his first instrument, a banjo guitar, at the age of twelve by a neighbor who kindly observed his enthusiasm for music. Without delay, he taught himself to play by imitating and examining the fingerings of other guitarists. Very quickly, he surprised listeners with his talent on the guitar and, just before he turned thirteen, he began performing in the music halls of rue Monge with a well-known accordionist named Guerino. Django continued to perform with various groups and made his first recordings with Jean Vaissade, another accordionist. Although this did not impair his musical talents, Django was virtually illiterate...... middle of paper ...... inhardt returned to Paris, while Grappelli remained in England. Django played and recorded throughout the war, replacing Hubert Rostaing's clarinet with Grappelli's violin. Fortunately, he was somehow able to escape the fate of many of his friends and family who died tragically in Nazi concentration camps. After the war, he found Stéphane Grappelli and they began playing and recording again. He toured the United States temporarily with Duke Ellington and returned to Paris to finish his career and retired to a small village known as Samois sur Seine in 1951. On May 16, 1953, Django Reinhardt suffered a major brain hemorrhage and died , leaving behind his wife Sophie and his son Babik. Reinhardt's music continues to be as essential and compelling today as it was during his lifetime and constitutes a true legend in the field of jazz..