However, his ambitious project, Django a la Creole, merging the tunes of the late great gypsy maestro Django Reinhardt with the sultry rhythms and musical exuberance of New Orleans, was born out of hardship.

Christopher was one of more than 4,000 musicians displaced from the Crescent City by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Pitching up in Paris, thousands of miles away from the bands he starred in, he sought fresh inspiration. Enlisting the help of some of Europe's leading gypsy swing musicians and inspired by the pre-war collaborations of Reinhardt with American jazz greats of the era, he created an album that has been critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic.

His short summer tour of the UK stops by the Sheffield Central Library Theatre on Thursday, when Christopher will be accompanied by an all star band of Dave Blenkhorn (guitar), Sebastian Girardot (double bass) and Dave Kelbie (rhythm guitar).