Lousson Reinhardt

Lousson Reinhardt
Background information
Birth name	Henri Baumgartner
Also known as	Lousson Reinhardt
Born	1929
Died	1992
Genres	Romani music, gypsy jazz, bebop
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1940s–1980s
Associated acts	Django Reinhardt

Henri Baumgartner (1929–1992), also known as Lousson Reinhardt, was a French gypsy jazz guitarist and the first son of Django Reinhardt, by his first wife, Florine "Bella" Mayer.

Henri / Lousson was the son of Django Reinhardt and Florine "Bella" Mayer, however Django and Bella separated shortly after Lousson's birth with the result that Lousson was raised in the family of his mother's second husband whose surname was Baumgartner, which surname appears on his birth certificate. He was known by his nickname "Lousson," from the French "l'ourson" which means "bear cub". The two families appear to have remained in contact since he reportedly learned to play guitar from Django and played accompaniment for his father on a tour of Belgium in 1948, of which recordings exist. Lousson was frequently on the road in the 1950s and 1960s and never recorded commercially except for an unreleased 1960s studio recording from Paris with violinist Vivian Villerstein. A private and rather shy individual, he performed sporadically in bars in Paris through the 1960s and appeared several times at the Django Reinhardt memorial festivals held in Samois-sur-Seine; according to Dregni, Lousson also spent a number of years travelling in Italy, returning to France in the early 1990s. Private recordings exist from a 1966 performance in Paris (a portion appearing on the CD "Gipsy Jazz School" cited below) and he also appears briefly on film in a 1978 documentary on Django Reinhardt made for Danish television.

His musical style has been described as following the "most modern" of Django's styles as well as being influenced by players such as Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall. At Samois in 1978 he is pictured using a Gibson ES-175 hollowbody jazz guitar belonging to Django's brother Joseph; his appearances in 1960s Paris and at the 1968 Samois festival are held in high regard by the few who were privileged to attend them. Francis-Alfred Moerman, who accompanied Sarane Ferret for many years, played with Lousson for several years in the 1960s and said: "Playing with Lousson was an extraordinary experience; he really had his father's genius in his fingers... he really was unlucky - his talent was awesome, but he played in the 1960s, which were the worst years for jazz players, so he was never successful and left no [official] recordings."

Feeling under-recognised by the critics as well as by the French authorities as the true son of Django (since his parents were married only according to gypsy custom, their marriage was not recognised by French law), Lousson retired from playing in 1980. He reportedly had 10 children (another source says 16) and had something of a struggle financially, frequently being without a guitar having used it in payment to doctors who would treat one of his children. Five of his children were sons, one of whom (Paul "Navire" Baumgartner) is stated by Dregni as being the father of Dallas Baumgartner, who is one of today's younger generation of gypsy jazz guitarists (other sources state that one of Lousson's sons was actually Dallas' step-father, and that his mother married into the family; in any event his grandmother Kali, responsible for Dallas' upbringing, was Lousson's half sister, the daughter of Bella by her second husband).

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