Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz (Paperback)

by Michael Dregni (Author), Alain Antonietto (Author) "From the beginning, it was a vagabond music..." (more)
Key Phrases: swing valse, les zazous, bats musette, Hot Club, Charles Delaunay, Collection Alain Antonietto (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
This is more than just Django's history - it is the fable of gypsy jazz and the unique players in it. There are extraordinary photographs, posters, and album covers all contained here. --Curled Up With A Good Book, February 2009

Product Description

Django Reinhardt was perhaps the greatest guitarist to ever live. A Gypsy who made his jazz guitar speak with a human voice, he was dashing, charismatic, childish . . . and doomed to die young after creating a legacy of Gypsy Jazz that remains vibrant today.

Gypsy Jazz is a music both joyous and sad, timeless and modern. It was born from a marriage of Louis Armstrong's trumpet with the anguished sound of Romany violin and the fire of flamenco guitar. Created amidst the glamour of Jazz Age Paris and reaching a peak during the horrors of World War II, Gypsy Jazz gave a voice to a dispossessed people. Today, Gypsy Jazz is more popular than ever. It has a legacy as strong as the Cuban sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club, the blues of B. B. King, or the R&B of Ray Charles.

Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz is a stylish collection of more than two hundred illustrations telling Django's story and the history of Gypsy jazz. Running through the Paris Jazz Age of the 1920s to the current worldwide renaissance of Gypsy jazz bands (including Django's grandsons, who are playing today), the images include rare archival photographs, modern images, posters, programs, tickets, guitars, memorabilia, paintings, and more.


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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Speck Press (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193310810X
• ISBN-13: 978-1933108100
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #498,891 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The lively text entertains as thoroughly as it enlightens, December 10, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Gorgeously illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs and poster representations on almost every page, Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz is the true story of a legendary figure in Gypsy Jazz, a music style that arose in the Jazz Age of the 1920's by blending the Romany violin and flamenco guitar with the trumpet and other jazz instruments. Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz traces the style's evolution and the career of the man who embodied it through the horrors of World War II, when the Nazis severely persecuted the Gypsies in Europe, and onward to Gypsy Jazz's rhythm-and-blues legacy for the modern day. The lively text entertains as thoroughly as it enlightens, in this enthusiastically recommended volume for casual readers and music history buffs.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!!, March 11, 2007

By	Rose Marie Wojcik - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is very well done, and has some interesting stuff that I haven't seen in other books about Django. I especially like all the pictures and additional work that went into it to make it more visually appealing and interesting to read!!