Gypsy Jazz

A string band of guitars and violin, fast arpeggios over a two-and-four chop, playing American jazz in Paris dance halls

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ModernAcoustic GuitarViolinDouble Bass

Gypsy jazz is the string-band jazz of 1930s Paris. Without drums, several guitars and a violin carry both rhythm and solos, putting American jazz vocabulary into French dance halls and the musical habits of Eastern European immigrants.

Origins and era

In 1934 the guitarist Django Reinhardt and the violinist Stéphane Grappelli formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France in Paris. Reinhardt was Roma, had played in camps and on the street as a child, and after a caravan fire in 1928 injured his left hand he fretted with two fingers. The group recorded heavily between 1934 and 1939, mixing musette waltzes, French chanson and American swing numbers. The war ended the partnership, and from the 1970s the Rosenberg family and guitarists such as Biréli Lagrène revived the style in Europe.

What you hear

The line-up is usually a lead guitar, two rhythm guitars, double bass and violin. Rhythm guitars mute the chords and chop short "la pompe" attacks on beats two and four, almost like percussion. The lead guitar uses a pick for fast scales and arpeggios, often with chromatic ornaments and slides at phrase ends. Violin and guitar trade the melody, tempos can be very fast, and slow pieces fall into waltz time. The sound is dry and bright, with no drums or electric instruments.

Key figures

Django Reinhardt fused Roma melody, American jazz harmony and guitar technique, while Grappelli improvised on violin with elegance and ease. Later players such as Biréli Lagrène, Stochelo Rosenberg and Joscho Stephan carried the language on and took it to festivals worldwide.

Lineage

French musette dance music, Roma music and American swing feed in; European jazz, modern guitar playing and local "jazz manouche" scenes come out. It was nearly contemporary with American hot-club jazz but took a different road through its line-up and timbre.

Common misunderstandings

Gypsy jazz is not traditional Roma folk music. It is a Parisian jazz style, though many of its players were Roma. Nor is it all fast showpieces, since waltzes and slow songs matter equally. Calling it swing without drums misses the percussive chop and the Eastern European melodic flavour.

Sources

• Michael Dregni, Django, The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend（Oxford University Press, 2004），用于核对巴黎场景与年代
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry Gypsy jazz，用于交叉核对风格与传播

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.