Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend by Michael Dregni

Author:Michael Dregni [Dregni, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Autobiography, Genres & Styles - Jazz, Genres & Styles, History & Criticism, Jazz, Django, Guitar, 1910-1953, Musical Instruments, Jazz Musicians, Music, Biography, Composers & Musicians - General, Biography & Autobiography, History & Criticism - General, France, Composers & Musicians, Composers & Musicians - Jazz, Reinhardt, Guitarists
ISBN: 9780195167528
Publisher: Oxford University Press US
Published: 2004-10-04T09:00:00+00:00

Django and the Q uintette were performing one night in 1936 at Bricktop’s when a towering figure approached Django between songs, pulled his monstrous cigar from between his lips, and asked for the Quintette’s “businessman.” Not understanding a word of English, Django pointed him to Stéphane. The man with the cigar was Lew Grade, a former Cossack dancer turned impresario. Born near Odessa in 1911, his Jewish parents fled to England before the pogroms and revolution caught up to them. Grade had been Louis Winogradsky, but in the new world he took a new name. Growing up athletic and strong, he danced the kaztatzke and other Russian dances before being crowned by Fred Astaire as the World Charleston Champion in 1926. But by 1934, his knees were worn out and he became an agent, joining forces to

create the Will Collins & Lew Grade Theatrical & Vaudeville Exchange. Now he was in Paris seeking acts to represent in England. Hearing of the Quintette, he sought them out at Bricktop’s. With Stéphane serving as the band’s impromptu “businessman,” a deal was agreed to over a drink to tour the Quintette through Britain.

A contract was eventually negotiated between Grade and Parisian agents the Marouani brothers. When it was time to sign, Stéphane advised Django to follow his lead: “I said to Django, ‘Listen, Django . . . I will show you the paper, and when I’m reading, if I said OK, remember: OK. I’ll give you the paper and you say OK. Understand?’” Stéphane read through the contract and everything was proper. He signaled Django with a simple, “OK.” But Django, embarrassed by his illiteracy and put out at not being the businessman, did not follow the plan. He studiously examined the contract he could not read, then pointed to an indistinct paragraph and indignantly said, “I don’t like this!” Turmoil broke the negotiations apart, until Stéphane could read the clause that upset Django: It promised the band all expenses paid for round trip first class travel. Stéphane quickly told Django to shut his mouth.

Before the Quintette set sail for England, Grade lined them up with a British female singer under his management. Django and band were playing at Paris’s ABC and Olympia, and a singer seemed just the thing to round out their act. Grade duly presented his singer—Beryl Davis, then a mere 12 years old. The Quintette may have been perplexed by this girl who arrived complete with a chaperone, yet they agreed to give her a go. Davis might have been young, but she didn’t lack experience. She wore strapless off-the-shoulder evening gowns while fronting big bands in London and performing on BBC Radio, belting out torch songs of love and heartbreak as if she had lived them all. Davis was booed by her first French audiences for singing in English, but then there weren’t many jazz numbers in French and she could sing swing with a sophistication that inspired the band to keep her. Davis would sing with Django on and off for the next three years.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.