Django, jazz and the Nazis in Paris.

Abstract

The writer discusses the jazz scene in Paris before and during the Second World War and examines the influence that gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt had on jazz music throughout Europe. Few cities in the world are more synonymous with jazz than Paris. When American jazz originally appeared in France during the First World War, it was simply an imported novelty. The Second World War made it into a genuine French institution, however, a transformation can be understood by tracing the career of Reinhardt. During the 1930s, Reinhardt developed a new style that mixed the elements of his traditional gypsy music with those of American jazz and became Europe's most accomplished jazz artist.