Gypsy Jazz

Created in Paris, France, in the '30s by guitarist Django Reinhardt, the movement known as Gypsy Jazz combines elements of swing and the Musette style of waltz into a hip, fast-fingered cocktail of cool. Dig the master, atmospheric vinyl crackles included free of charge, on "Djangology," and marvel at contemporary hero, Jimmy Rosenberg.

The techniques of Gypsy Jazz are passed down the generations by ear, not by musical notation, and the guitar does not own exclusive rights to the genre. Solo parts are frequently taken by the violin: check out "Cherokee" by Stéphane Grappelli, founder of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France and fellow G-Jazz pioneer with Django Reinhardt.

Now that you're au fait, as the Parisians would say, with the fundamentals of Gypsy Jazz, it's time to discover the work of the original movement's peripheral players, like legendary squeeze-box maestro Gus Viseur, who started out as a busker before backing Edith Piaf, then joining the Hot Club alongside Reinhardt and Grappelli.

With a warm, sexy sound that has percolated, like thick black coffee, from the Parisian sidewalks and clubs of the '30s to the modern day, Gypsy Jazz is a musical invitation to make merry on a lazy afternoon with a host of easy-living friends and a bottle of pastis. With its roots in the guitar work of Django Reinhardt, Gypsy Jazz lives on today through contemporary players like the Hot Club De Norvege and movies like The Triplets of Belleville. Make your season an eternal summer with these swinging G-Jazz cuts.