Nuages, meaning Clouds, is one of Django Reinhardt's best-known compositions and a cornerstone of gypsy swing. Originally an instrumental piece, it was released in 1940 as a 78-RPM single by Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club de France on the French Swing label, with Les Yeux Noirs on the flip side. The tune has since been covered many times and English and French lyrics were later added; the English version is titled It's the Bluest Kind of Blues. In 1940 Reinhardt recorded two versions in F major; he was unhappy with the first take and added a second clarinet for a celebrated December 1940 arrangement. A later 1946 recording is in G major, and a final 1953 session made shortly before his death features him with Maurice Vander on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass, and Jean-Louis Viale on drums, by which time he was playing an electric guitar. Nuages has become a jazz standard and a mainstay of the gypsy swing repertoire, noted for its melancholic mood and its iconic ascending-descending melodic motif; it has inspired numerous interpretations by artists across jazz and beyond.
