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Gypsy jazz

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
The Quintette du Hot Club de France, a famous jazz group led by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli.

A Happy Kind of Music

Gypsy jazz is a style of music. It was inspired by a guitarist named Jean "Django" Reinhardt and a violinist named Stéphane Grappelli. The two of them played together in a group called the Quintette du Hot Club de France.

Where It Began

The style began in France. It started among the Manouche people, who are a group of Romani families. Many people still call it jazz manouche.

Django Reinhardt loved the music of Louis Armstrong. He played with a group of guitarists in Paris for many years. His brother Joseph played with them too.

Gypsy jazz became popular again from the 1970s onwards. People gather at music festivals to enjoy it. The most important one is the Festival Django Reinhardt. It began in 1968 in Samois-sur-Seine, France, where Django last lived. The festival still happens today.

The name "gypsy jazz" comes from the words jazz tsigane in the French language. That means "gypsy jazz" in English.

Instruments and Sounds

Guitar and violin are the main instruments in gypsy jazz. A double bass often joins the group. Many players use a special guitar called the Selmer-Maccaferri guitar, which Django liked very much.

Quiz time!

3 questions about Gypsy jazz

Question 1 of 3

Who was the guitarist that inspired gypsy jazz?

Pictures

The band Pearl Django performs live at a Bastille Day celebration at Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington.
Tchavolo Schmitt (left) and Steeve Laffont perform at the Chope des Puces café in Saint-Ouen, France, a famous spot for gypsy jazz, also called jazz manouche.
The Hot Club de Norvège band performing at the Djangofestivalen in Oslo in January 2018, with guitarists, a violinist, and a double bass player on stage.
Two replica guitars in the Selmer-Maccaferri style, played in gypsy jazz. One has a D-shaped sound hole, called the "big mouth," and the other has an oval sound hole, called the "small mouth."
Violinist Yves Teicher and the Chorda Trio performing gypsy jazz at the Ferme de la Madelonne in Gouvy, Belgium, in 2007.
A diagram showing 'la pompe,' a common guitar strumming pattern used to keep rhythm while accompanying a song.
Fapy Lafertin, a guitarist, performs on stage with the group Waso at Pizza Express in London in 1983.
Gypsophilia, a Canadian jazz ensemble, performing at the Sunfest music festival in London, Ontario, in 2010.
The autograph of Häns'che Weiss, a German Sinti jazz guitarist known for his work in the Sinti jazz style.
Stochelo Rosenberg, a gypsy jazz guitarist, performing in concert in the Netherlands in 2002.
A saxophone, a musical instrument with a curved brass body and keys that players press to make different notes.

Keep exploring

Paris
France
Jazz
Romani people
French language
Double bass

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Gypsy jazz, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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