Jazz Away from Home - Chris Goddard - Appendix on Django

Jonathank · November 2005

Hi Michael et al,

(First real post so stuck it in newbies section (and frankly I'm scared of Ted...))

I came across this fascinating book second hand in NZ. It was written in 1979 and is an account of how Jazz came to Europe(mainly Paris post WWI) It covers a host of Americans in Paris (e.g. Louis A, Ellington, but also the likes of Eddie South, Freddy Taylor and others who recorded with Django) plus covering a whole host of French musicians of the time ( inc Ekyan, Warlop, Gregor and those Gregorians...), a chapter and great photos of Bricktop (the club and hostess), a chapter on the impact of jazz on the likes of Debusssy and Ravel, etc.

Of particular interest is an appendix on Django which includes what the author calls "a montage of comments made by other musicians about him" plus a number of photos(20+) some of which I haven't seen on the web or in books (), unfortunately there are no references to where he has "lifted" these comments from in the book although the photos of Django are credited to various sources such as Chaput, Vola, Savitry, Gerard Levecque(?)etc).

I can't find this book referenced in Vernon's bio-discography, at Django Montreal or Hot club UK, and I searched the Yahoo Group, UK forum and this forum for any reference, but no luck. Admittedly I haven't got the Hal Leonard version of Delauney, Dregni, the complete Fremeaux set or Cruickshank's Django and the Gypsys (you wouldn't believe the cost of postage to NZ.....so don't shout at me) so can't check there. Yet the Goddard book is referenced in a number of US academic articles on jazz in France (per a simple google search).

Can one of you please explain: Is this book referenced in Dregni or somewhere else or is the lack of profile because the Django appendix is just a cut n paste from Delauney or some other source I don't have or has it been somehow been missed by the community - unlikely I know ?

If the answer is its a cut n paste then I would still recommend the rest of the book to anyone interested in the jazz environment in which our hero flourished.

(Per Amazon Uk it was republished in 2005 in paperback ( but is out of stock). I also spotted a copy on Ebay a few months back when searching for references to it.)

Anyone want more details email me.

Jonathan

P.S a few of the photos I didn't recognise were:

- Djangos letter to Gerard Levecque from the USA 1946
- Django lying on a hotel bed whilst gerard leveque transcribes one of his compositions
- Roget Chaput playing banjo in a Bal Musette c 1927
- the Quintet, others and Charles Delauney on the balcony of Pierre Nourry's house
- Django (in heavy shadow) playing violin for his baby son
- Django arriving in London with Andre Ekyan
-Django playing the organ whilst Leveque transcribes his mass

Jonathank · November 2005

Re>>P.S a few of the photos I didn't recognise were:

>- Djangos letter to Gerard Levecque from the USA 1946
>- Django lying on a hotel bed whilst Gerard Leveque transcribes one of >his compositions
>- Roget Chaput playing banjo in a Bal Musette c 1927
>- the Quintet, others and Charles Delauney on the balcony of Pierre >Nourry's house
>- Django (in heavy shadow) playing violin for his baby son
>- Django arriving in London with Andre Ekyan
>-Django playing the organ whilst Leveque transcribes his mass

Apologies - As I posted I remembered the Catalogue of Photos in Vernon and have realised the above balcony shot, possibly the mass shot and a couple of others are ones in Delauney. Still the Chaput Bal musette photo isn't mentioned by Vernon or another in Goddard showing Django jamming with then Glen Miller band.

Still the main question stands - are the quotes (which I forgot to say include comments from Hubert Rostaing, Levecque, Alain Romans, and a great one from Louis Vola on going with Django to hear classical music and after which Django says "I can't hear myself..") from Delauney or are they original interviews by Goddard?

Cheers

Jonathan

Suppose I should now order the Hal Leonard Delauney from somewhere - since Michaels out of stock...