Since authenticity is an important consideration for the Hot Club of Cowtown, the Austin, Texas, trio who play a mix of Western swing and hot jazz, it's easy to locate them on the musical map. Western swing was mostly invented and popularized by the legendary Bob Wills in the '30s and '40s in Texas, while the more chamber-like hot jazz style was mainly developed in 1930s Paris by the Hot Club quintet, featuring gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grapelli, who many believe were copying New York jazz pioneers Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti.
But while both genres have had enough boosters over the years to guarantee continued life, most musicians who play them shy away from the pure forms. Western swing's most valuable postwar proselytizers may in fact have been the hippie-boogie big band Asleep at the Wheel, whose Wills covers were often tongue-in-cheek. And while Django has never gone out of style, the best jazz album of recent memory dedicated to his legacy was made by a sax player, James Carter.
"Django's finally getting noticed again, which is great," says HCC's own guitarist, Whit Smith, in a telephone interview from his home in Austin. "But what's interesting is how many bluegrass and country musicians are familiar with the Hot Club of France, while many younger jazz musicians are not."