There have been numerous attempts to produce box sets that cover the range of Django Reinhardt’s work. Among examples reviewed in Jazzwise have been the 8CD set on Label Ouest of the complete Hot Club of France output, Warner Music’s reissue of its 5LP Djangology series, and the ambitious Intégrale complete works on Frémeaux, which runs to 20 volumes of 2CD boxes. Yet all these focus on Django the instrumentalist, and his evolution from a player in bals musettes to the acerbic electric guitarist of his final days in the early 1950s. So it is welcome indeed to have a box with a different perspective, homing in on Django the composer. The first two records of the three are chronological, and draw together Reinhardt’s own playing of his pieces, including favourites such as ‘Sweet Chorus’, ‘Daphne’, ‘Swing 41’, ‘Crepuscule’, and ‘Nuages’, as well as his many solo improvisations. The third finishes the chronological sequence, but then becomes truly fascinating, with interpretations of Django’s writing by other instrumentalists. These include classical guitarist Julian Bream (playing Malcolm Arnold’s ‘Elegy’, based on a Django theme), the French saxophonist Barney Wilen on dazzling form, and above all, the Italian gipsy-style guitarist Henri Crolla. Add in performances by Chet Atkins (!), Milt Jackson and Quincy Jones, Sacha Distel, the MJQ and the Matelot Ferret trio, and we have the chance to compare Django’s originals with new interpretations. For the most part, given his technical mastery and the way his plangent tone on the Maccaferri guitar suits the mix of urgency and wistful melancholy in the writing, Reinhardt’s own interpretations have the edge. Matelo Ferret – from the same Manouche heritage – comes closest to that feeling, not imitating, but playing within the gipsy tradition, especially on the deft runs of the waltz ‘Chez Jacquet’. Crolla takes the guitar style forward in fascinating ways from Django’s late electric period, notably on ‘Nuages’ which also has a dexterous clarinet solo from Reinhardt’s longtime associate Hubert Rostaing. But to be reminded that Reinhardt’s music is a body of standards, easily equivalent to American Songbook writers, and fertile ground for jazz improvisation, just listen to Wilen’s magisterial take on ‘Vamp’ or ‘Nuages’ and marvel.