There are a zillion "best of" compilations of the music of Django Reinhardt. For a guy that recorded about a zillion songs, something good is probably missing from every one. I was pointed to one called the the Quintessential, put it was very out of print and even a banged up copy would set me back twenty bucks. Thankfully, this particular compilation, while packing a few number of songs, seemed to do the trick.
Jazz as a genre is already sporting flexibility just by keeping big band and bop traditions under a single umbrella. Django forced the genre to think even more broadly, both musically and geographically. France was eagerly listening to what America was playing in the 1920's and 1930's and more than happy to respond. As with all good jazz, the French subgenre incorporated its own local music traditions, in this case that of the Gypsies. The guitar/violin combo presented a wholly different face of jazz, almost as if one launched a heavy metal band with saxophones.
Although Django (as far as I know) didn't go in the on the electricification movement, pioneered by Charlie Christian, he did set the foundation for guitarists across genres to play extremely fast (hot!) rhythms and leads. The guitar/violin dueling technique would re-emerge in the fusion era, particular in the early Mahavishu Orchestra albums pitting John McLaughlin against Jerry Goodman.
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