THE TOP 10 Jazz & Fusion PLAYERS

These jazz pioneers and fusion virtuosos are essential listening.

01 DJANGO REINHARDT

Few have been as influential as the Belgian-born gypsy jazz pioneer

Countless players of all styles have cited Django as an influence, from Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass to Stevie Ray Vaughan and JeffBeck, though it’s among the Gypsy communities of Europe that Django truly lives on. Exactly how he managed, with a badly injured fretting-hand, to play such incredible lead lines is still the subject of debate. Frankly, it’s mind-boggling - and his intensely swinging single-string solos, near impossible chromatic runs encompassing the entire range of the guitar neck, incredible arpeggio leaps across the fretboard and fearsome rhythmic drive have had musicians’ jaws on the floor ever since. Mere hyperbole? Certainly not! Together with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Django was instrumental in developing the vocabulary of the entire gypsy jazz genre.

Django almost exclusively used a 1930s Selmer-Maccaferri guitar, set up with light gauge ‘silk ’n’ steel’ strings (0.010-0.046), and featuring an internal sound chamber to enhance projection. His own Selmer, serial number 503, is on display at the Museum Of Music in Paris. Only a few dozen other examples survive and today fetch astronomical sums!

Here’s how to play a gypsy-style groove. Django’s Selmer-Maccaferri jazz guitar is optional!

1. Choose some jazzy chords

Minor 6ths, dominant 7ths, dominant 13ths and the super-cool 6/9 chord sound great. We've opted for Am6.

2. Strum on every beat