Manoir de mes rêves, known in English as Django's Castle, is a gypsy jazz composition by Django Reinhardt in 4/4 time. A French lyric by Lawrence Riesner was added later. The piece was first recorded in Paris in February 1943, on either the 12th or the 17th, by Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France, with Gérard Lévêque on clarinet, Eugène Vées and Django on guitars, Jean Storne on bass and Gaston Léonard on drums. Reinhardt conceived it as a symphony with choir built on the melody, but the symphony was never performed and was left unfinished. Lévêque transcribed Reinhardt's guitar playing, as Reinhardt could not read or write music. He recorded the piece many times, including in 1945 with his American Swing Band, in 1947 with Stéphane Grappelli and in 1949 in Geneva with André Ekyan. Later versions include ones by Chet Atkins, Gerry Mulligan, Eddie Harris and Joe Pass, Charlie Haden and Christian Escoudé, Barney Wilen, James Carter and Laurent Cugny with the Gil Evans Paris Workshop. The tune appears in the films Swing Kids and Rushmore and in the video game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven.
