One of Europe's biggest contributions to jazz, Gypsy swing jazz -- now more correctly called "jazz manouche" -- comes down to one man, famed Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt. Together with violinist Stephane Grappelli and a rotating ensemble of musicians, Django's Quintette du Hot Club de France shot to fame in 1930s Paris, playing a new energetic Gypsy mix of flamenco, Balkan music, folk and jazz.
Given the brilliance of Django's technique and compositions, it's not surprising his legacy lives on in clubs throughout Europe and annual festivals such as the Samois Gypsy Jazz Festival in France.
But these days, the flame of the Hot Club is burning just as brightly in Tokyo. Two local clubs, in particular, fill their weekly schedule with accomplished Gypsy jazz groups who love nothing better than to reel off line after line of intense solos amid taut, swinging rhythms. The musicians and clubs have gradually expanded into a community committed to this beautifully lyrical and technically demanding style of jazz.