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Django Reinhardt
No European jazz musician has so enchanted the word as Django Reinhardt, the gypsy guitarist whose recording with Stephane Grappelly and the Hot Club of France have meant "The Thirties" to several generations of listeners, influencing musicians as far afield as Larry Coryell, Leon Redbone, Eddy Lang, and Charlie Christian.
This is the only full-length study of Django ever published in English, an unforgettable portrait of a wild and independent figure who never learned to read or write (friends forged his autographs), exasperated those people who lived by schedules, gambled away a week's salary in a night, but who played the guitar like no one before or since. The distinguished French critic Charles Delaunay, who knows more about Django than anyone alive, here provides not only the familiar outline of a life--the childhood travels in gypsy caravans, the fire that left Django with a crippled hand, the legendary temper and generosity--but he also collected scores of anecdotes about the sensitivity and musical gifts that were the basis for Django's appearance as a character in Jean Cocteau's Les Enfants Terribles. Who else but Django could charm his way out of a jail sentence by serenading the police officer with his guitar?
The comprehensive discography at the back of the book completes Delaunay's picture of this "misrepresented and fantastic creature, at once so captivating and so divorced from the contentions of his age."
This is the only full-length study of Django ever published in English, an unforgettable portrait of a wild and independent figure who never learned to read or write (friends forged his autographs), exasperated those people who lived by schedules, gambled away a week's salary in a night, but who played the guitar like no one before or since. The distinguished French critic Charles Delaunay, who knows more about Django than anyone alive, here provides not only the familiar outline of a life--the childhood travels in gypsy caravans, the fire that left Django with a crippled hand, the legendary temper and generosity--but he also collected scores of anecdotes about the sensitivity and musical gifts that were the basis for Django's appearance as a character in Jean Cocteau's Les Enfants Terribles. Who else but Django could charm his way out of a jail sentence by serenading the police officer with his guitar?
The comprehensive discography at the back of the book completes Delaunay's picture of this "misrepresented and fantastic creature, at once so captivating and so divorced from the contentions of his age."
258 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 26, 2019
Django Reinhardt, what a magnificent human being.
I feel as though the dear Django Reinhardt deserves a better biography, much longer and deeper. But having being in his circle of acquaintance, the author probably tried his best.
You can't talk about Django without being romantic, because his life were just like that. Showing up to concerts at the last moment if at all, forgetting to bring his guitar or snapping strings while playing and still have the most magnificent solos after all that, which made everyone forgive his wild spirit.
But still, this book is so romantic to the verge of being only assembled from anecdotes. Some of the dates were wrong (maybe typos), and I didn't like that fact that almost all of the part about Stéphane Grappelli was basically drawn out from one interview from the 'Melody Maker'. Also, politically correct wise, there's no chance that today someone would write with such language about race, the blacks and the gypsies (another reason why Reinhardt deserves a new biography).
Anyway, it's a good read for Reinhardt lovers, but I wish there would be a better, more modern author that will take up the mission to write another one, a bigger one.
I feel as though the dear Django Reinhardt deserves a better biography, much longer and deeper. But having being in his circle of acquaintance, the author probably tried his best.
You can't talk about Django without being romantic, because his life were just like that. Showing up to concerts at the last moment if at all, forgetting to bring his guitar or snapping strings while playing and still have the most magnificent solos after all that, which made everyone forgive his wild spirit.
But still, this book is so romantic to the verge of being only assembled from anecdotes. Some of the dates were wrong (maybe typos), and I didn't like that fact that almost all of the part about Stéphane Grappelli was basically drawn out from one interview from the 'Melody Maker'. Also, politically correct wise, there's no chance that today someone would write with such language about race, the blacks and the gypsies (another reason why Reinhardt deserves a new biography).
Anyway, it's a good read for Reinhardt lovers, but I wish there would be a better, more modern author that will take up the mission to write another one, a bigger one.
March 9, 2008
A very decent biography on one of the great guitar players ever. His gypsy lifestyle and that beautiful face - how could he fail!
February 10, 2025
Charles Delaunay is no writer and no artist. There is no narrative, there are countless typos, and his apparent racism and sexism is appalling. He shined light on Django’s humanistic features and brought down the legend with tails of cowardice acts, such as sending his wife out of bunkers to see if it was really clear, and examples of Django’s own sexism and racism. I know that often we write these things away because of what was accepted during time periods, but just because something is accepted socially does not mean that an individual should express such mindsets. When Django brags about his young boy’s interest in the ladies and the way he took note of women’s legs shows how these issues are generational and should not be written off due to eras.
Django was a flawed man as all men are, especially artists and those whom achieve fame and power. I still do regard Django as an artist, as it is impossible not to recognize his creativity and desire for expression. However, knowing now that the man trying to express his feelings lacked such empathy for others (especially as someone who came from such a background of misunderstand), I feel a bitterness now when I hear the rhythmic, melodic, and of course harmonic intricacies that garnished Django such praise and legendary status.
The book also has such a lousy beginning, middle, and end. Overlooking typos and poor syntax, the form of the novel is bland and the narrative just isn’t there. The only good thing this book has going for it is the extensive discography at the end. I know so much work must have gone into making such a list with the information that is available to readers. Props to everyone involved in that process.
Django was a flawed man as all men are, especially artists and those whom achieve fame and power. I still do regard Django as an artist, as it is impossible not to recognize his creativity and desire for expression. However, knowing now that the man trying to express his feelings lacked such empathy for others (especially as someone who came from such a background of misunderstand), I feel a bitterness now when I hear the rhythmic, melodic, and of course harmonic intricacies that garnished Django such praise and legendary status.
The book also has such a lousy beginning, middle, and end. Overlooking typos and poor syntax, the form of the novel is bland and the narrative just isn’t there. The only good thing this book has going for it is the extensive discography at the end. I know so much work must have gone into making such a list with the information that is available to readers. Props to everyone involved in that process.
October 3, 2021
Well, I am on the road and I left this gem on the car so it's somewhere in the middle of the road now. Which might be fitting. But I nearly finished it, so I can say that it's brief, very sparely written with almost nothing poetic. Though a musician's biography from the dawn of the 20th century, a life often spent camping and stumbling to stranger's homes late at night, isn't exactly going to leave much of a paper trail. That he was superstitious, quick to anger, vanity and sometimes prejudice (towards the peasants), and able to play three hours with a broken comb for a plectrum.... any of these things might have succeedwd in completely erasing this musical genius from the embrace of cultural memory today. But, he survived the nazis, somehow remained friends with his rational band mates, and single handedly (plus nerve damage) invented much of the jazz guitar playbook through improv. I think it's wonderful to have a very specific angle on life experience, yet to mesh so will in wordless affinity with a world full of change, anger, and abrupt liberation, right at the fulcrum where cultures balance and teeter. Some think if Sacre Couer, some the Moulin Rouge, others remember the self taught strangers who knew how to blow a paycheck earned by blowing people's minds.
December 21, 2019
A good biography, with real insight into Reinhart's Rom ["gypsy'] background and his unbelievable capacity to play great music in spite of having had one hand burned badly. In this sense, the book is a story of disability. Reinhart was incorrigible, brilliant, mercurial, and the book captures much of that.
April 19, 2014
I have been listening to Django Reinhardt recordings for over 40 years and consider him to be one of the great guitar geniuses. I looked forward to reading his biography, and I enjoyed learning about many of the details of his life that I hadn't known.
Mr. Delaunay's work obviously was written originally in French, and at times I found the translation to be awkward. Despite that flaw, it became very clear from the beginning of the book that I was reading about a person and a culture that is completely foreign to me: the French gypsies, or "Tsiganes".
When I traveled to France, I had seen them on the streets of Paris and Nice, and I was warned to be wary of them for their reputation as pickpockets and thieves. Even today they live on the fringe of society, with morals and cultural traditions that are completely different from their more "civilized" neighbors. That Django was able to bridge the culture gap to a certain degree seems remarkable.
He couldn't read, he couldn't write; for a long time, he used the mark of the cross for his signature. But his ability to play incredibly masterful guitar with a ring finger and pinky finger permanently damaged from a fire when he was a teenager gave him entry into the "other" world.
His fame brought him a lot of money, but he never saved a penny - always spending what he made immediately on gambling and feasts for his many gypsy "cousins" who seemed to be everywhere. He could be aloof, egotistical, and totally unreliable as a professional musician, but he also could be child-like in his naivete, and he had a good heart. He was an enigma, and it's a shame that he died in 1953 at the age of only 43, but he did leave a large legacy of recordings for my generation and future generations to appreciate.
I would have liked the author to explain why the Nazis didn't put him in a concentration camp, as they treated gypsies like Jews. Fortunately for Django and the world, he survived the war in France while his band-mate Stephan Grappelly stayed in London.
If you are not familiar with Django's music, I'd recommend that you listen to some recordings before you undertake to read this bio. It simply will make a lot more sense to you - the adulation, the man's genius, and the man's devil-may-care personality.
Mr. Delaunay's work obviously was written originally in French, and at times I found the translation to be awkward. Despite that flaw, it became very clear from the beginning of the book that I was reading about a person and a culture that is completely foreign to me: the French gypsies, or "Tsiganes".
When I traveled to France, I had seen them on the streets of Paris and Nice, and I was warned to be wary of them for their reputation as pickpockets and thieves. Even today they live on the fringe of society, with morals and cultural traditions that are completely different from their more "civilized" neighbors. That Django was able to bridge the culture gap to a certain degree seems remarkable.
He couldn't read, he couldn't write; for a long time, he used the mark of the cross for his signature. But his ability to play incredibly masterful guitar with a ring finger and pinky finger permanently damaged from a fire when he was a teenager gave him entry into the "other" world.
His fame brought him a lot of money, but he never saved a penny - always spending what he made immediately on gambling and feasts for his many gypsy "cousins" who seemed to be everywhere. He could be aloof, egotistical, and totally unreliable as a professional musician, but he also could be child-like in his naivete, and he had a good heart. He was an enigma, and it's a shame that he died in 1953 at the age of only 43, but he did leave a large legacy of recordings for my generation and future generations to appreciate.
I would have liked the author to explain why the Nazis didn't put him in a concentration camp, as they treated gypsies like Jews. Fortunately for Django and the world, he survived the war in France while his band-mate Stephan Grappelly stayed in London.
If you are not familiar with Django's music, I'd recommend that you listen to some recordings before you undertake to read this bio. It simply will make a lot more sense to you - the adulation, the man's genius, and the man's devil-may-care personality.
July 22, 2022
Django Reinhardt, an in-depth biography on the late jazz guitarist virtuoso, written by his good friend and colleague Charles Delanunay, (published by Da Capo Press, London 1982).
If ever there was a worthy account of this fascinating guitarist, this would be it. It chronologically details the life of Django from his turbulent early years to his rise to fame and eventual legendary status in Europe.
Born in Belgium in 1910 to gypsy parents, Django became an innovator of European jazz, rose to fame as a hero among his fellow gypsies, and is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists.
However, this extremely gifted man led his life as randomly as his solos. It was not only his mastery of the guitar that made him such an interesting figure, but his concept of living in general. He seemed beholden to none. When he wanted to drop everything and travel, he did. This book gives an incredible examples of his odd persona at work.
When his string quintet was founded with Stehpane Grappelli, and rose to great fame, many American musicians found themselves seeking him out in France while on tour. Benny Goodman, Benny Carter, members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie, and Duke Ellington, all searched for him while in Paris, if not to play with him, to just listen. Duke Ellington in particular was a good friend of Django, and Django, needless to say, a big fan of The Duke.
Want to hear more: check here: http://wp.me/p3czXo-CO
If ever there was a worthy account of this fascinating guitarist, this would be it. It chronologically details the life of Django from his turbulent early years to his rise to fame and eventual legendary status in Europe.
Born in Belgium in 1910 to gypsy parents, Django became an innovator of European jazz, rose to fame as a hero among his fellow gypsies, and is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists.
However, this extremely gifted man led his life as randomly as his solos. It was not only his mastery of the guitar that made him such an interesting figure, but his concept of living in general. He seemed beholden to none. When he wanted to drop everything and travel, he did. This book gives an incredible examples of his odd persona at work.
When his string quintet was founded with Stehpane Grappelli, and rose to great fame, many American musicians found themselves seeking him out in France while on tour. Benny Goodman, Benny Carter, members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie, and Duke Ellington, all searched for him while in Paris, if not to play with him, to just listen. Duke Ellington in particular was a good friend of Django, and Django, needless to say, a big fan of The Duke.
Want to hear more: check here: http://wp.me/p3czXo-CO
March 6, 2014
Not a great biography, focusing primarily on his music, but the musical adventure is fantastic based on his amazing talent, musical contribution, and success against all odds. His continuing impact on jazz and musicians in general is evidence. Lots of information on his oeuvre and his fellow musicians over his sadly limited professional life.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews