Django in Books

The Original Biography of the great Gypsy Guitarist Django Reinhardt is available. This deluxe Edition features 3-parts. The 1st part is devoted to Charles Delaunay‘s charming & authoritative Biography of Django. The 2nd part is a completely revised & updated Discography of all of Django‘s known Recorded works. The final part is devoted to over 150 photographs & illustrations of the Master Guitarist, many of which have never been published before. This beautiful book is without a doubt the finest literary tribute ever made to the eternal genius of Django Reinhardt and is a must for Jazz lovers and Guitar enthusiasts alike.

 

Django by Patrick Williams (in French)

Éditions Parenthèses, 72, cours Julien, 13006, Marseille
Collection  eupalinos (soft cover) , two different editions illustrated
ISBN 2-86364-612-5/ ISSN 1281-5853 (80 F), Version 2, 1998

Django Reinhardt – Un géant sur son nuage by François Billard (in French)

avec la collaboration D’alain Antonietto1993, Lieu Commun, dima, Paris 6-93 955-876-0
ISBN 2.86705.172.x
Those 2 books above are respectively Edition 1 and 2 of the same book. The 2nd edition has an updated discography and minor corrections. it is possible that they have “borrowed” some rare anecdotes .

Django Reinhardt, Mythes et Réalités

by Roger Spautz
ISBN 2-87951-008-2
“Mythos und Realität.”

Luxembourg 1983. 238 p., (40) p. of photos. Gut recherchierte Biographie, mit Discographie pb DM 29.80

Table of Content

• This book is also a must, Delaunay‘s being the 1st for historical reasons. A lot of efforts went into the writing of this one – congratulation to the author.
• I’ve never found this book in book stores. The University of Montréal, in its Music Book library does own an original.
• I would call this one Delaunay‘s volume 2. It starts where the other one left. Interviews, souvenirs from people who knew Django.
• The discography at the end goes is a nice complement to Delaunay’s original.
• It includes a complete musician list who did record with Django.

Jean ‘Django’ Reinhardt: a contextual bio-discography 1910-1953 by Paul Vernon
Google Books

This volume gathers together and organizes in an easily accessible format all known information relevant to the life and work of the French jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Together with fellow musician, Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt became one of the 20th century’s most celebrated jazz artists with performances he gave as part of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.  Essentially discographical in format, this book updates the original work compiled by Charles Delauney in 1960, and draws on later work by Gould, Nevers, Royal and Rust, to detail all known recordings by Reinhardt, together with known film, radio and television appearances. For each entry Paul Vernon provides, where known, the location of the recording, the date, the artist credit as it appears on the label of the original issue, the performers and the instruments played by them, the matrix number, the exact timing of the recording and details of 78, LP, EP and CD issues. Interspersed at the appropriate chronological points are biographical details about Reinhardt and the political,  social & cultural climate of his time. This is augmented with excerpts from reviews, letters and other documents to provide a vivid context for his recording work.

The Music of Django Reinhardt explores the story of the man and his music as never before. Benjamin Givan shows how one of jazz’s greatest guitarists created his unparalleled sound. This book is an analytical study of his music, including his process, his improvisational style, and his instrumental technique.  The book features transcriptions from records of the 1920s through the 1950s and includes detailed discussion of selected performances from one of the most important guitarists in history.  Benjamin Givan is Assistant Professor of Music at Skidmore College. His writings on jazz have appeared in scholarly publications such as Current Musicology and the Musical Quarterly, as well as the popular jazz magazine Down Beat. He received his Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University.

Django Reinhardt: Know the Man, Play the Music

Book/CD pack. Django’s exuberant solos and incisive rhythm playing have fascinated and tantalized guitarists for half a century. Leading jazz writer Dave Gelly considers Django’s life and recordings and explains exactly why he sounded the way he did. Meanwhile, guitarist and teacher Rod Fogg shows you how you can achieve that sound with detailed transcriptions of 6 celebrated numbers: “Djangology,” “Sweet Chorus,” “Bouncin’ Around,” “Minor Swing,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Nuages.” CD includes all 6 tunes accurately recorded from the transcriptions.

Django: the life & music of a Gypsy Legend  by Michael Dregni

Django became Europe’s most famous jazz musician, commanding exorbitant fees–and spending the money as fast as he made it. Dregni not only chronicles this remarkably colourful life – including a fascinating account of gypsy culture – but he also sheds much light on Django’s musicianship. He examines his long musical partnership with violinist Stephane Grappelli – the one suave & smooth, the other sharper and more dissonant – and he traces the evolution of their novel string Jazz ensemble, Quintette du Hot Club de France. Indeed, the author spotlights Django’s amazing musical diversity, describing his swing-styled Nouveau Quintette, his Big Band Django’s Music, and his later Bebop Ensemble, as well as his many compositions, including symphonic pieces influenced by Ravel & Debussy and his unfinished Organ Mass inspired by Bach.

NB the Dregni Illustrator restores Django’s Left Hand to full Dexterity!

The solos of Django Reinhardt are an endless source of inspiration and amazement for any musician. In this exciting book, the author has compiled precise solo transcriptions (in notation only), as well as a thorough analysis of each. There is also a complete “how to” section that is like a book in itself. This book contains some of Django’s best work. It covers a period of 17 years, from Django’s first trio and quintet recordings to one of his last bop-influenced sessions, “Live at the Club St. Germain.” Multiple versions of many solos are included to show Djangos’ musical development over his long career. Studying the music of the master of Gypsy Jazz can help lay a solid foundation for your own sound and style.