1946 "Gypsy Genius" article on Django

sadow

Not sure if this has ever been posted, but I came across this April 21, 1946 article from the Cincinnati Enquirer magazine section, which I assume was written in anticipation of the Ellington tour. Some of it may be apocryphal but an entertaining read nonetheless.

pmg

Here's a pdf version which might be easier to read.

dennis

How do we know if it’s apocryphal? Maybe he managed to talk to Django and some of his family members. Definitely an entertaining read! About the story of his name it seems to confirm what I wrote a while back :

http://denischang.com/index.php/2015/08/09/sinti-culture-language-and-the-origin-of-the-name-django/

Svanis1337

It's an interesting article, Les Lieber who wrote it recorded some tunes with Django in 1945 with the American Transport Command band. Mostly playing sax, but one odd recording where he plays pennywhistle:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Uq6pHSwpqxs

He passed away last month aged 106, here is an interview at age 99 where he plays a little and talks about Django:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3vuKRiyXdxI

crookedpinky

While I agree that we have to bear in mind that the racist tone may be symptomatic of the time it was written it's still a slightly uncomfortable read. And why point out that Django's wife was 250 pounds ?

stuology

The source is probably Delaunay.

PapsPier

Are you sure it is from Cincinatti Inquirer? It was originally found and shared with our community by Gatsby. He found it inthe Los Angeles Times 21st April 1946, while doing research about the press coverage of Django's US trip .

https://djangoreinhardtdanslapresse.wordpress.com/2016/07/07/los-angeles-times-21-avr-1946/

stuology

It's not unusual for local papers to reprint stories from other papers

John Gill

Thanks for posting, a great read. I enjoyed it.

MichaelHorowitz

This discussion got way off topic and is now closed.