I don’t own a television, so when I need a fix of trashy reality programs or something equally mind-numbing, I watch TV at my friend’s house. I recently fed my craving and spent a couple of hours switching channels when I was interrupted by a new commercial campaign for one of the big banks. I recognized the soundtrack immediately as quintessential Gypsy Jazz with its unmistakable guitar solos and contagious swing from an all-acoustic rhythm section.

You can’t say the words Gypsy Jazz without thinking of Django Reinhardt. He’s the man who started it all, a Belgian-born Gypsy guitar-player of mythic proportion. He grew up steeped in the Gypsy (Manousche) tradition, learned to play cabaret music in the streets of Paris, and became infatuated with American Jazz sometime in the late-1920’s. If you throw these three musical styles together and put them into the hands of a masterful musician, the product is the most fun, hard-swinging sounds ever heard.

A good friend introduced me to Django and his Quintet of the Hot Club of France recordings when I was in high school. I was hooked and even went so far as to write my college thesis on the subject, which may or may not have been an excuse to build what I hoped would be the world’s largest Gypsy Jazz CD collection.

The recordings of Django Reinhardt on Naxos Jazz Legends (10 volumes) are as good as any collection out there. From Vol. 1 onward you’ll hear Django establish himself as the great Jazz guitarist and band leader of his day. In addition to recordings with The Quintet of the Hot Club of France (his most famous group), he plays with big bands, small ensembles and vocalists. Many of these are true gems, such as his cuts with Coleman Hawkins which are very hard to track down.

Here are some of the series highlights:

Django Reinhardt, Vol. 2, Stompin at the Decca

The band that started it all, The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, is in full force on this up-tempo outing that showcases Stephane Grappelli on violin.

Swingin’ with Django, Vol. 4, Interpretation swing sur le premier mouvement du Concerto en re mineur de J. S. Bach

Eddie South and Stephane Grappelli swing throughout as they improvise the Bach Double Violin Concerto.

Django Reinhardt Vol. 7, Avalon

The great tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and Django join forces, taking this popular tune to a new height.

Here are a few more Gypsy Jazz records that swing hard and are worth checking out:

• Harmonious Wail, “Gypsy Swing” (Naxos World Music)

• Ismael Reinhardt Quartet, “Gypsy Swing” and “Gypsy Swing II” (ARC)

• Beni Schmid, “Obsession – Hommage a Grappelli” (OEHMS Classics)

• Andor and Gyula Kovacs, “Guitar-Drum Battle” (Hungaroton)

In the past ten years,new Gypsy Jazz bands have sprouted up all over the world and are enjoying popularity like never before. From Birmingham, England to San Francisco, festivals devoted to the genre are more and more common. Keep your eye out for new albums and musicians, and be sure to let me know what you find.don’t own a television