St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues is one of the most important early blues compositions, written and published by W. C. Handy in 1914. Combining blues form, ragtime-era syncopation, and an unexpected Latin-influenced section, the song became an international standard and one of the most widely performed works in the history of jazz and blues.

Django Reinhardt recorded St. Louis Blues repeatedly throughout his career. Known recordings span from 1935 to 1950, showing that the piece remained part of his repertoire through very different periods of his musical development — from acoustic Hot Club settings to later recordings featuring electric guitar.

Musical character:
St. Louis Blues is much more structurally varied than a simple twelve-bar blues. Handy combined traditional blues sections with a contrasting 16-bar minor section built around a habanera or tango-like rhythm. This famous “Spanish tinge” gives the composition a distinctive change of colour before it returns to the blues feel.

Connection to Manouche Jazz:
The connection is direct through Django Reinhardt's numerous recordings. Django approached the tune not simply as a blues song but as a flexible jazz vehicle for rhythmic variation and improvisation. His versions demonstrate how naturally American blues material could become part of the developing European swing and Manouche Jazz language.

Interesting facts:

• W. C. Handy wrote both the music and lyrics and published the song in 1914.
• Handy became widely known as the “Father of the Blues”, although he did not invent the blues; he played a major role in bringing existing African American blues traditions into published popular music.
• The composition combines familiar blues forms with a striking 16-bar minor section using a habanera or tango rhythm.
• Django Reinhardt's discography lists six recordings between 1935 and 1950, making St. Louis Blues one of the standards he revisited repeatedly during his career.
• One of Django's 1935 versions was recorded with Stéphane Grappelli and an acoustic string ensemble, while his later versions show his move toward electric guitar and modern jazz instrumentation.
• Bessie Smith made one of the most celebrated recordings of the song in 1925, accompanied by musicians including Louis Armstrong.
• Bessie Smith also starred in the 1929 short film St. Louis Blues, built around Handy's song.

St. Louis Blues stands at an important crossroads between blues, popular song, ragtime, Latin rhythm, and jazz. Its unusual form and powerful melody allowed musicians from very different traditions to make it their own, and Django Reinhardt's repeated recordings gave it a lasting place in the broader Manouche Jazz repertoire.