No list of famous Belgians would be complete without the name of Django Reinhardt, the jazz guitarist, the centenary of whose birth is today.
So original was his technique that a critic hearing Django for the first time said it was as if he had become adept on the guitar without ever having heard another person play it. Part of the cause was partial paralysis of the third and fourth fingers of his left hand. He played his famous solos using only two fingers.
Django came 65th in a 2005 list of the greatest Belgians compiled by Belgian television, showing what a cultured lot they are. The list contains 16th century mapmaker Mercator (famous for his projection), Rubens, Erasmus and Adolphe Sax, plus a lot of people you have never heard of.
So original was his technique that a critic hearing Django for the first time said it was as if he had become adept on the guitar without ever having heard another person play it. Part of the cause was partial paralysis of the third and fourth fingers of his left hand. He played his famous solos using only two fingers.
Django came 65th in a 2005 list of the greatest Belgians compiled by Belgian television, showing what a cultured lot they are. The list contains 16th century mapmaker Mercator (famous for his projection), Rubens, Erasmus and Adolphe Sax, plus a lot of people you have never heard of.
Django means 'I awake' in Romany.
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