Jazz manouche

Jazz manouche, or gypsy jazz, is a style of swing jazz created in Paris in the 1930s by the Romani guitarist *Django Reinhardt* and the violinist *Stéphane Grappelli* with their *Quintette du Hot Club de France*. Played on acoustic string instruments without drums, it combines American swing repertoire and harmony with Romani musical heritage: rhythm guitar supplies the percussive 'la pompe' pulse, while lead guitar and violin deliver virtuosic, arpeggio-driven improvisations. The idiom remains a living tradition among Romani communities and guitarists worldwide, renewed by players such as *Biréli Lagrène* and *Stochelo Rosenberg*.