Django by Michael Dregni

Django by Michael Dregni

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Django by Michael Dregni

Django Reinhardt was arguably the greatest guitarist who ever lived, an important influence on Les Paul, Charlie Christian, B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, Chet Atkins, and many others. Yet there is no major biography of Reinhardt.

Now, in Django, Michael Dregni offers a definitive portrait of this great guitarist. Handsome, charismatic, childlike, and unpredictable, Reinhardt was a character out of a picaresque novel. Born in a gypsy caravan at a crossroads in Belgium, he was almost killed in a freak fire that burned half of his body and left his left hand twisted into a claw. But with this maimed left hand flying over the frets and his right hand plucking at dizzying speed, 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 colorful 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 St phane Grappelli--the one suave and 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 and Debussy and his unfinished organ mass inspired by Bach. And along the way, the author offers vivid snapshots of the jazz scene in Paris--colorful portraits of Josephine Baker, Bricktop, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, and countless others--and of Django's vagabond wanderings around France, Europe, and the United States, where he toured with Duke Ellington.

Capturing the extraordinary life and times of one of the great musicians of the twentieth century, Django is a must-read portrait of a true original.
Michael Dregni is the author of the New York Times bestseller Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend. He's also a guitarist struggling to play Django's music. A regular contributor to Vintage Guitar magazine, Dregni's writing has also appeared in Guitar Player and Acoustic Guitar magazines, as well as The Utne Reader and others. Alain Antonietto is the world's pioneering historian of jazz tsigane. He is the author of numerous articles on Romany music, a long-time contributor to La Revue Etudes Tsiganes, and producer of albums collecting rare Gypsy music. He is also the co-author of Django Reinhardt: Un geant sur son nuage and Django Reinhardt: Rythmes futurs.
SKU Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13 9780195167528
ISBN 10 019516752X
Titel Django
Autor Michael Dregni
Buchzustand Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart Hardback
Verlag Oxford University Press Australia
Erscheinungsjahr 2011-11-11
Seitenanzahl 326
Preise Winner of IndieFab awards (Music) 2004
Hinweis auf dem Einband Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis Nicht verfügbar