Customer Reviews

Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend

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I'm always wary of books written about musicians by other musicians. I got this as a gift and expected a lot of worshipful prose about Django Reinhardt. Instead, I was delighted to find a very well-researched history which afforded Reinhardt the great respect he deserves as an innovative jazz musician, but doesn't patronize or idolize Django the person. What emerges is a good sense of Django as both a player and a man. This history of Gypsy jazz and the styles that influenced it have led me to new apprecation of recordings by players like Angelo DeBarre and even some of the Chopin Waltzes that were infleunced by the musette tradition. There's a whole side to Gyspy music that is not as obvious or as well-known as Django's jazz influences. For anyone, especially a guitarist, interested in this kind of music, this book will make an excellent addition to your library.

My only requests would be a list of sources for in-print recordings of some of the artists who were also mentioned in the book, like Baro Ferret who accompanied Django on many recordings but was apparently a virtuosic solist himself, and perhaps a few more pictures beyond the small but fascinating selection included.

Overall, this is a great piece of well-written research that will do a lot to encourage and preserve a very special musical tradition.

This is possibly one of the finest music biographies I've ever read (and I've read stacks). Instead of taking the tack of Django-worshipping, Dregni carefully and thoughtfully lays out all of the historical context around Django's life and music. This is a rarity among music biographies, which generally sum up historical context in literally just a few lines ("The Depression was over and times were tough, but the jukes were still swingin'"). Dregni does a fabulous job, and makes it interesting to boot.

He also doesn't cut Django too much slack, although he doesn't villainize him either. Genius is generally accompanied by a bit of madness, and always with a bit of narcissism, and Django had all of this, which doesn't make him a bad person, just a bit of a mad genius. Dregni did well expressing this.

All in all, Django had a phenomenal life and his body of work is practically unmatched in any genre, as far as quality and prolificness. Dregni simply gave us a historical context and a background behind the man who made it.

This book is recommended to jazz fans (whether gypsy jazz is your thing or not), musette fans, guitar players, Francophiles, those interested in gypsy culture, those interested in WWI and WWII, those interested in Paris in the '30s and '40s, history buffs, and so on.

In this book, Michael Dregni has done a wonderful job of putting the pieces together to tell the story of one of jazz history's most enigmatic, influential and inspired musicians. Usually, a critical look at a musician has to contend only with the prejudice and exaggeration of hearsay and legend, but in this book Dregni has also been confronted by the culture of shadows and secrets inhabited by the gipsies of Europe, no doubt making the process of connecting the dots of Django Reinhardt's story much more difficult. Gladly, he has done a marvelous job. The evocative prose succeeds in painting a picture not just of a life but of a time and place, equal parts romantic and real, that leaves the reader with an appreciation of what a truly remarkable man Django Reinhardt was and what a truly remarkable time it was in which he lived. Occasionally the book reminded me of a Jeunet film, an amber-hued voyage through a funhouse of dark corners, gypsy gangsters and cobblestones, all to the strains of an accordion heard through the rough doors of a bal-musette. Placed squarely in the the middle of such a milieu, Django emerges as a complex genius, his flights of musical inspiration bound by vanity and his artistic sophistication tempered by a childlike impetuousness and naivete'. Dregni thankfully does not allow his subject to dodge the dimmer aspects of the spotlight, painting a very human portrait of a man equally unreliable, duplicitous and vain yet devoted, sentimental and generous. Full flight is also given to Django's etherial magic-trick genius which resulted in, at times, perfect examples of inspired expression within the worldly context of a high art. There are many important reasons for Django Reinhardt's enormous influence on music (and jazz in particular), likewise for the legends and stories that surround both him and his surviving legacy, and I feel that this book does a wonderful job putting them into context for us. What an enjoyable and inspiring read.

I approached this book with the intention of learning more about the mysterious Gypsy guitarist who could play phenomenally with only two useful fingers and his thumb on his fretting hand.

Instead, what I got was a very detailed, well-written account of Django Reinhardt the man and his part in the nascent French jazz scene, all nicely put in historical context of Europe during WWII.

Fans and historians of jazz are in for a real treat with this book. I had no idea of Django's relation to and influence by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, among others.

Musical geniuses of this magnitude are often eccentric, and the author does a more than thorough job of pointing that fact out about Reinhardt. However, despite his phenomenal life and story, I admit that some of the very childish, self-centered, egotistical aspects of Reinhardt's personality made it very difficult to relate to or have sympathy for the man.

Still, all in all, this book is an interesting read. It isn't at all the kind of book that's going to make guitarists run out and practice, but it should be enthralling for jazz aficionados and history buffs.

Michael Dregni's new biography is a thoroughly researched, erudite study that, for the most part, is a pleasure to read. Dregni's vocabulary is impressive, if not at times clinical, and his descriptions of Django's playing and jazz music in general, that is, what it sounds like and what it feels like to listen to, are quite wonderful. There are few things harder than describing in words what great music sounds like and though Dregni may at times be too in love with his subject to write an even, critical biography, he's achieved something worthwhile. He traces Django's beginnings and gives an overview of Gypsy culture which pays dividends as the work progresses as Django, throughout his life, always stayed true to his humble gypsy roots--always preferring a simple domestic existence, sparkled by flashes of high culture and high society that his flirtations with riches often afforded him, and understanding gypsy ways helps keep Django's unusual life in context. Dregni's book is a far more readable and complete study of this fascinating musical genius than Delaunay's prior hagiographic book, the only other semi-seriouis study to date, and I can highly recommend it to music lovers, but probably more specifically, to Django lovers--of which there are legions--everywhere.

This utterance comes halfway through Michael Dregni's book, and it's one of maybe 50 direct quotes by Django Reinhardt drizzled over 280 pages. Self-conscious about his lack of education, Reinhardt didn't like talking to "gadjé." He is known to have written three letters in his life, and the most extended quote is bogus: an "interview" concocted by an impresario to defame a rival.

It has to be quite a challenge for a biographer to work with so little material. And yet Dregni does an excellent job. While by necessity he has to rely on external testimony and events to make his portrayal, his focus is always on Reinhardt and the extraordinary contradictions of the man: one night dining with royalty, the next night stealing a chicken on a country road; living in a luxury hotel one week, a caravan the next; over-generosity alternating with infuriating pettiness; turning one gig into an all-night jam session, not bothering to show up for the next. You think you know Bohemian? This is Bohemian.

Of course, Django was only verbally reticent. Musically, he is one of the most articulate, expressive players ever. So it's the musical parts of this book that really shine. Partly because of the nationalism of his promoters who wanted to push a French jazz musician, but mostly because of his magical talent (and in spite of a tendency to sleep later than recording session schedules), Reinhardt's output was vast and varied. As I imagine is true for many, I knew the Quintette/Grapelli recordings to the exclusion of almost everything else. So I especially appreciated the discussions of his later career: the weird fact that during the Occupation, when jazz was officially verboten, he achieved his greatest popularity, and his enthusiasm for bebop, which I've always thought he anticipated with his angular, superfast playing.

In the endnotes are many mentions of "interview with author, 2001/2/3..." Aside from the documentary research, Dregni deserves special gratitude for contacting people who knew Reinhardt and who will probably not be around much longer. His efforts have doubtless uncovered facts that, because of the large part of Reinhardt's life that exists only in the oral tradition, would certainly have been lost without them.

Django Reinhardt, one of the more remarkable and mysterious characters of his time, deserves a first-rate biography. This is it.

A legend in guitar fans, Django's music is recognized everywhere as the soundtrack for Paris. It has been used in films from those of Woody Allen to "Something's Gotta Give," and most every jazz lover and guitar fan at at least one album by Django in their collection. While he is arguably the world's most influential guitarist, the details of his life have remained a mystery.

In this new book the author draws on hundreds of first person interviews with Django's family and friends. The result is a biography that is also the rich and fascinating story of the Roma people.

Django's life was truly different. Born on the roadside in a gypsy cravan, his life was a battle to overcome racism and poverty. Just as his career was getting started, he was nearly incinerated in a fire that left his left hand almost paralyzed. Learning to play with only two fingers, he quickly became the toast of Europe for his gypsy-influenced jazz.

Mr. Dregni has written a biography that is as reverant as it is enlightening.

I read this book on a recent vacation and was kicking myself for not bringing Django Reinhardt CD's with me to listen to while I read. I have been an admirer of Django's music for some time but was unaware of just how much influence his music had on artists of his time. There are three reasons why I liked this book. One, to understand Django's personality the author tells us a little of the history and culture of the gypsies. Two, the backdrop of Django's life story is the Paris music scene during the 1920s, through the Nazi occupation of WWII, and the birth of bebop in the late 40s and early 50s. And three, the amazing life story of what may be the greatest guitarist ever born. All three of these aspect of the book are brought together to create an outstanding biography of Django Reinhardt. But be warned that reading about this incredible talent may cause an insatiable desire to listen to his music.

. . . and it's unlikely that it will ever be surpassed.

Django Reinhardt is an icon to many guitarists. The story of a Gypsy with only two fully functional fingers on his left hand becoming one of the world's greatest Jazz guitarists has been told over and again but Dregni has taken the time to dig deeper and learn more about Django not only as a musician but also within the context of the life of a European Gypsy. It's obvious that this book, along with Dregni's similar book Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing are labors of love for Dregni who has written on a variety of subjects but obviously has a great affinity for Django and the music he was most associated with.

As a result of that affinity the reader is treated to a biography that in both scope and detail exceeds Django Reinhardt the biography written by Charles Delaunay, the man that discovered Django and helped to establish him as a fixture in the French Jazz scene.

Now there's only so much material available about Django but Dregni fleshes this out with insights into the world that Django was born into, the culture and circumstances of Gypsies living in France early in the 20th century. I came away from the reading of this book with a lot of information about Gypsy culture and it certainly gives insight into the man himself.

I strongly recommend this biography for anyone interested in Django and his music. I've read pretty much everything I could find about Django and this book truly stands out. The other books told me about the things Django did, this book told me about him as a person.

THE book to read if you are a Django fan. Dregni has crafted an excellent work, capturing not only the man and his music, but also taking us into the Manouche culture and Paris lifestyles and even fashion. The book is well written and researched, the annotation is excellent and appreciated, adding to the veracity of the work. Buy it, read it.