Django's magic

There is very little footage of Django Reinhardt playing (this, go to 2:28, is by far the best available), which makes it difficult to appreciate his dazzling technique. But we can somehow extrapolate.

Django's technique gets even more interesting, given that he only had two fully functioning fingers in his left hand, which was crippled in a fire when he was 19.

(Sources: left / right)

Now, this is Stochelo Rosenberg playing "Les Yeux Noirs" ("Dark Eyes").

As it happens, what Rosenberg plays is Django's 1947 recording of this tune, almost exactly verbatim.

Going back to Rosenberg's video and the images above, I think we can get a better appreciation of what Django was capable of.