Interesting Django Recordings and Lost Footage?

Svanis1337

Very funny Spatzo.

I'll do that.

spatzo

Teddy I wonder if Decca would have easily made the investment of a promotional film in 1938 when Delaunay just achieved to found the "Swing" Record company (that was distributed by Gramophone / La Voix de son Maître) and was also recording Django on it in 1937. Do you think they cared about that? Who knows if there was any kind of contract between Django and Decca? We know that Decca used to send a list of tunes that the Quintet had to record so that might be a term of contract: we distribute Django and the QHCF only if they accept to grab at least x% of the tunes we ask for...

It looked rather mandatory

Svanis1337

Here's my letter to Dennis:

Dear Dennis,

I would like to use the concerned footage(s) in a non-commercial, private use for musicological and historical purposes, to get better insight on Django's technique and music.

I will use the footage(s) solely for my internal evaluation and this might help me to determine whether I might intend later to obtain a non-comp licence for other purposes.

I would like to receive a list of the all available footages on Django Reinhardt with a complete description of its content, date and origin along with your best prices and conditions according to the relative licensing agreements you might grant me.

I would also like to have information on how I may choose among the footage(s) the relevant ones.

Please comply as best you can. Appreciations in advance.


Richard.

If this doesn't work, just tell Serge Bromberg and stalk him and see what happens. If he ever gets his hands on "new" footage, don't let him put that ugly watermark on it. I've been looking for a version of "Jazz Hot" without that stupid eye for ages.

My last name is Svanstrom, also. Not Svanis.

The Quintet did have a pretty strict contract.

A bit of trivia: Apparently the other members of the Quintet was paid to practice four hours a day when there were upcoming concerts and the like.

spatzo

Very well Svanis! I'm waiting for the footages for "our" personal evaluation

I'm curious about your Django dreams... do you play with him? Remember this night to ask him about his right hand...

However I think Teddy is responsable for that as I myself dreamed Django when I slept once in Teddy's castle - I was guested in the "Green Frog Room" ... I'm afraid I was immediately black-listed for an abnormous smoking cession half-bended through a small "meurtrière"-window (defensive device usually used for shooting arrows)

spatzo

Ok Richard!

I will certainly call Bromberg but I know he will need at least two days to mount his film so I will wait. The watermark can be quite easily scraped...

The contract for the rhythm section was four hours a day - three weeks before begining the tours and they were even payed!

Svanis1337

I've been dreaming of finding footage by Django, and seeing him perform in clubs et.c in person - from a distance.

I guess it's because I value him so highly, even though I'm in his vicinity I just can't get closer than that.

Apart from that, I've been anxious because a few months ago I found an old 78 while walking through an area where there had previously been houses. I just left it there, and I can't help but think it was some extremely rare recording. But it had been lying under the mud and stuff, I didn't think it would be playable but the more I think about it the more I want to go back and see what it was.

There's also an insane collector of old stuff a walking distance from my house. I can't help but think he has something really interesting as well. I don't know why this is. I think i'm hoping for too much. I've donated old calculators and stuff, manual ones with a crank and one really early electric one with copper wiring as display, so he owes me. I might just stroll there one of these days and go through his house and pick something I want. Maybe I'll walk home with something, who knows.

I think Teddy have dreams about Django as well. When he (and you?) visited Coleridge Goode for example. And sat in the same chair in the same place as Django once did and tried to spiritually connect to him. :roll:

But to be honest, I'd do the same.

Teddy Dupont

spatzo wrote:

Teddy I wonder if Decca would have easily made the investment of a promotional film in 1938 when Delaunay just achieved to found the "Swing" Record company (that was distributed by Gramophone / La Voix de son Maître) and was also recording Django on it in 1937. Do you think they cared about that? Who knows if there was any kind of contract between Django and Decca? We know that Decca used to send a list of tunes that the Quintet had to record so that might be a term of contract: we distribute Django and the QHCF only if they accept to grab at least x% of the tunes we ask for...

It looked rather mandatory

It's not an absolute certainty that Decca would fund the footage but it's a good possibility given that the Quintette recorded exclusively for Decca during its two visits to the UK in 1938 and then again in 1939. Decca may well have thought it worth paying for such a promotional film to get people along to the concerts in the hope they would then buy the records and possibly Decca had a better distibution in the UK at that time than most other record companies, The Quintette was probably playing many of the tunes it had recorded with Decca during their visits. It would be essential to see the rest of the film, assuming it was ever completed, to see whether it advertised the fact that the Quintette was touring the UK and recorded for Decca. There was definitely a contract between Decca and the Quintette which caused problems when they came back to record in the UK in 1946 (two separate recording sessions with different record companies on consecutive days - HMV then Decca).

Svanis1337 wrote:

Anyway, I got a response from myfootage.com, and I need your help on this.

I must say Dennis sounds like a bit of a bloody chancer to me but if you'll hang on I'll give some thought as to how best to approach him.

Teddy Dupont

Teddy Dupont wrote:

I must say Dennis sounds like a bit of a bloody chancer to me but if you'll hang on I'll give some thought as to how best to approach him.

Ah too late! I see you have already responded. This is moving so fast I'll have to stop moving away from the computer for sustained periods and trying to live a normal life.

spatzo wrote:

However I think Teddy is responsable for that as I myself dreamed Django when I slept once in Teddy's castle - I was guested in the "Green Frog Room" ... I'm afraid I was immediately black-listed for an abnormous smoking cession half-bended through a small "meurtrière"-window (defensive device usually used for shooting arrows)

Actually it was the fact that he kept waking us up playing his guitar in the bedroom at about 6 o'clock in the morning!!!

Svanis1337

I'm sorry, Teddy. But it's hard to stop a raging Djangophile for even a minute.

spatzo

Richard I effectively was with Teddy when we went to see Coleridge Goode (that is still living in the same flat as in 1948) but I just couldn't connect Django in any way as as soon as Coleridge said to us in a quite tragic way: "He was sitted here..." Teddy jumped in the corner of the room on Django's chair and immediately kept the position like the king castling in a chess game until Coleridge finally decided to offer us some excellent rhum. We even played a couple of tunes with Goode (Coquette and a blues if I remember well) but Teddy was elsewhere and had no human reactions. The hardest was going out convincing Teddy to drop the chair... :shock: