Gypsy jazz is among the most appealing and addictive subgenres of 20th-century music. The style was codified and romanticized by Django Reinhardt, the Belgian gypsy guitarist whose recordings with the Quintette du Hot Club de France in the 1930s and ’40s reached remarkable heights of lyricism and technical prowess—despite having had two of his fretting fingers paralyzed in a caravan fire.
On Travels, the Rhythm Future Quartet, which takes its name from an especially ferocious Reinhardt recording, builds on the standard instrumentation and classic aesthetic of Gypsy jazz. Tunes such as “Iberian Sunrise” and “Bushwick Stomp” are flag wavers in the traditional hard-driving gypsy mold, while their cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” finds the Rhythm Future Quartet incorporating elements of post-Reinhardt popular music and improvisational practice. Travels is that rare type of record that reveals its invigorating delights on first encounter while also rewarding multiple listenings.
