Michael Dregni - Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt

MichaelHorowitz

Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing Hard Cover PRE-ORDER ETA APRIL 2008"
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Michael
Dregni

Gypsy
Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing
Hard Cover PRE-ORDER ETA APRIL 2008

Teddy Dupont

How does this vary from Dregni's "Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend"?

It sounds pretty much the same from your summary.

Jack

I think Michael may have copied the wrong description; this is from the shop page:
Book Description
Of all the styles of jazz to emerge in the twentieth century, none is more passionate, more exhilaratingly up-tempo, or more steeped in an outsider tradition than Gypsy Jazz. And there is no one more qualified to write about Gypsy Jazz than Michael Dregni, author of the acclaimed biography, Django. A vagabond music, Gypsy Jazz is played today in French Gypsy bars, Romany encampments, on religious pilgrimages--and increasingly on the world's greatest concert stages. Yet its story has never been told, in part because much of its history is undocumented, either in written form or often even in recorded music. Beginning with Django Reinhardt, whose dazzling Gypsy Jazz became the toast of 1930s Paris in the heady days of Josephine Baker, Picasso, and Hemingway, Dregni follows the music as it courses through caravans on the edge of Paris, where today's young French Gypsies learn Gypsy Jazz as a rite of passage, along the Gypsy pilgrimage route to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer where the Romany play around their campfires, and finally to the new era of international Gypsy stars such as Bireli Lagrene, Boulou Ferre, Dorado Schmitt, and Django's own grandchildren, David Reinhardt and Dallas Baumgartner. Interspersed with Dregni's vivid narrative are the words of the musicians themselves, many of whom have never been interviewed for the American press before, as they describe what the music means to them. Gypsy Jazz also includes a chapter devoted entirely to American Gypsy musicians who remain largely unknown outside their hidden community. Blending travelogue, detective story, and personal narrative, Gypsy Jazz is music history at its best, capturing the history and culture of this elusive music--and the soul that makes it swing.

Sounds good to me!
Jack

robertsaunders

Me too. Some of us can't get enough of Dregni, who has proved a capable chronicler of a difficult subject for research. Rereading the Django biography, I continue to be amazed at the richness of the material. But of course, the reviews aren't in, so I'll reserve judgement.

brandoneon

I just got this book yesterday, and I can hardly put it down. I really liked Dregni's Django biography, I was lukewarm about the text content in his illustrated history book, but this new book is amazing. From what I've read so far, it kind of reads like a mystery/history/travelogue ... lots of interesting anecdotes, like Dregni trying to find a gypsy circus off of place Pigalle, or talking with someone who has unearthed a recording of Gusti Malha :shock: . What I'm trying to say is it's a real fun read, with a real personal touch. If you're on the fence about this book, just get it! You won't be disappointed.

Bravo to Michael Dregni for a wonderful work.

BTW I've found the best experience so far for reading this book is to put on the new JSP box set 'Django on the Radio' in the background.

Phil

also includes a chapter devoted entirely to American Gypsy musicians...

I wonder if it contains any mention of the UK Gypsy musicians who play a huge role in keeping this great music alive and kicking? The UK musicians were noticeably absent from Dregni's Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz. ~ Phil