Romanis, jazz, and Mafia: how the music of Romani virtuosos became a soundtrack for an iconic game

If you have ever played Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, you must have heard the hits of Romani virtuosos — Django Reinhardt, a jazz musician, and Latcho Drom, a jazz band (the fans of Tommy Angelo should now recall the Running Man mission). 

So, let us recall this iconic video game of the 2000s and the Romani jazzmen who have given it its unforgettable soundtracks. One of these jazzmen, by the way, contributed a lot to the development of the genre, as due to the trauma he sustained to his hand, he had to invent his own, special style to play the guitar.

 The history of the game

The game begins in the 1930s in Lost Heaven, a fictional US city resembling both NYC and Chicago. The plot is presented in the form of a first person narration by chief protagonist during his encounter with a detective.

You play as a taxi driver called Thomas Angelo who, to his own surprise, begins a career in organised crime as a driver of Don Saglieri, a crime boss. He continues ascending the ranks as he confronts Don Morello's clan.

Tommy ultimately falls into disenchantment with the life of a criminal and meets the detective to turn state on Saglieri's organisation in order to save his family. And so, the former cab driver tells his story. Overall, this is a series of games from 2K Czech, Massive Bear Studios, and Hangar 13 companies. These are third person shooter games with elements of racing video game.

The first game in this series was released on the 29th of August, 2002; the second one was released on the 28th of August, 2020.

Romanis in the game

There is a stereotype: wherever there is Mafia, money, and barons, Romanis must be entangled in the context. This is really the case in this story. That said, in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, Romanis play high quality jazz and this invests the game with a special atmosphere and exquisite context.

The players must recall the Belleville track by Django Reinhardt and Quintette du Hot Club de France. It will not be an exaggeration to say that it was the leading theme of this game.

Django Reinhardt was a unique musician of Romani origin who did not just design his own technique (how to play using two fingers only) but made the Romani culture popular and open to the huge audience of listeners, from Europe to the USA.

At the age of 17, Django suffered an injury to his hand during a house fire. Two of his fingers remained paralysed ever since. This, however, did not break the lad who was in love with his guitar.

 Django Reinhardt was ahead of his time, as his music was and still is up-to-the-minute, especially in jazz environments. His works are played at jazz concerts and festivals, in pubs, and in the streets. They are also used as soundtracks for video games.

Music in the video game

As far as Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven is concerned, there were also the following Django tracks in the game: Cavalerie, Vendredi 13, Minor Swing and others.  

Since we have already mentioned one of the most well-known missions in the Running Man, it would be downright wrong not to cover it—particularly due to the fact that the LaVerdine track which serves as a background when Angelo—then but an ordinary taxi driver—runs away from Morello's underlings—is also a track by Latcho Drom, a Romani band.

The Latcho Drom band was created in Toulouse, France, back in 1993, by Christophe Lartilleux, a guitar musician of Romani origin. Latcho Drom stands for «Safe journey» in Romani. 

Lartilleux, a masterful guitar player, does not conceal the fact that he is a fan of Django Reinhardt's creative heritage. For many years, Lartilleux has studied Reinhardt's style and drew inspiration to create his own works. This helped Latcho Drom become equals of a legend. Today, they are called the flagship band of Romani swing music.

So, if you have suddenly developed an urge to listen to the sound of Romani jazz/swing, you can just turn on the tunes by Django Reinhardt or Latcho Drom and imagine you are sitting in somewhere in a pub in New York City or Chicago. Where the city goes to sleep and Mafia wakes up.

Illustrations and music: open sources