The theme for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month 2022 is ‘What Makes a Home?’ This is an interesting question for people often popularly assumed to be constantly itinerant. However, while this was true in the past, today 90% of Gypsies and Irish Travellers around the world live in houses. Some groups do move on for work opportunities, others live permanently in one area or only travel for a few weeks or months of the year. The UK is home to around 200,000 Romani. There have been Romani in Britain since at least 1515. Travel is still important for visiting family and fairs, such as Appleby Horse Fair. This has been held since the 12th century and is the largest Gypsy, Romany & Traveller gathering in Europe.

For some Romani, such as Jean ‘Django’ Reinhardt (1910–1953), the concept of home could be multi-faceted. Reinhardt would go on to be one of the first major jazz talents in Europe. Although he was born in Liberchies, Belgium on 23 January 1910, Reinhardt was born to parents of Manouche Romani descent. His artist father, Jean Eugene Weiss/ Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt (1881-1953), was born in Amiens and lived in Paris at the time of his son’s birth, but to avoid French military conscription he used the Belgian surname of his wife, Laurence Reinhardt (1884-1958). However, although she had a Belgian name and lived in Belgium in 1910, Laurence had also been born in France (in Brittany). Liberchies was in the Walloon part of Belgium, an area where he may have heard those around him speaking French, German, Dutch, or Walloon.

The family returned just outside Paris, where young Django grew up in Romani camps, playing violin, banjo and guitar from an early age. After being given a banjo-guitar when he was 12, he learned how to perfect his playing by watching the Romani musicians around him. By 15, he was busking in cafes and at 17 he married a Romani girl, Fluorine ‘Bella’ Mayer. By 18, top bandleaders of the day, such Jack Hylton, were travelling to France to hear Reinhardt play.

In 1928, Reinhardt escaped a fire in his caravan, but suffered extensive burns over half his body and was hospitalised for eighteen months. In 1934, he formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France with violinist Stephane Grapelli in Paris. 

Fascism was on the rise in Europe during the 1930s. Romani were heavily persecuted before and during the Second World War. During the Porajmos (Romani Holocaust), an estimated 600,000-1.5 million Romani were killed in Europe. During the war, Reinhardt was the most famous jazz musician in Europe. Although he was able to work, he was constantly under threat of the Nazi regime. Reinhardt married again in 1943 to Sophie “Naguine” Ziegler in Salbris. They had a son, the guitarist, Babik Reinhardt. Many of Reinhardt’s friends were captured around this time, and he tried to flee Occupied France. He too was captured later, but was allowed to return to Paris by a jazz-loving Luftwaffe officer.

Django Reinhardt’s post-war success was sadly short-lived. He died suddenly of a stroke in Paris, 1953 at the age of 43.

An instrumental version of one of his best-loved compositions, Nuages, an instrumental became an unofficial anthem in Paris to signify hope for liberation.  It is now a jazz standard. Reinhardt is credited with pioneering what later became known as ‘gypsy jazz’. Examples of this from within his repertoire, include Daphne, Belleville, Djangology, and Swing ’42. The term is offensive to some, and it is now often known by the French jazz manouche or as ‘manouche jazz’ in English.

In many ways, despite his having been born in Belgium, Django Reinhardt’s home was Paris. He felt at home in Romani camps and jazz clubs, but had tried to flee during the war when France was occupied and became a danger to Manouche like him.