Stéphane Grappelli

Among the foremost jazz violinists ever to emerge, Stéphane Grappelli earned a place alongside Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith as one of the three preeminent figures of the pre-bop era. His enduring career and unfailingly spirited performances helped secure the violin’s lasting acceptance within jazz. Although he acquired his skills on both violin and piano without formal instruction, he attended the Paris Conservatoire from 1924 to 1928. Before encountering guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1933, Grappelli had already worked in cinema orchestras and dance ensembles. The two musicians forged an immediate artistic rapport despite sharply contrasting backgrounds—Grappelli’s urban sophistication stood in marked contrast to Django’s nomadic upbringing. From 1933 to 1939 they led the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, whose lineup of violin, three acoustic guitars, and bass generated an extraordinary run of recordings and concerts. While the ensemble was appearing in London in 1939, the outbreak of World War II prompted Reinhardt to return impulsively to France; Grappelli elected to remain in England, thereby dissolving the group. He promptly formed a new ensemble with the young pianist George Shearing that maintained steady employment throughout the conflict. Their first of several postwar reunions occurred in 1946, yet the pair never resumed regular collaboration even though they continued to make occasional recordings. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Grappelli appeared in clubs across Europe and, apart from sessions with Duke Ellington on Violin Summit and with Joe Venuti, stayed largely overlooked in the United States until he commenced worldwide touring in the early 1970s. From that point onward he remained an indefatigable traveler and perennial favorite in polls, preserving an open musical outlook while never straying from his swing foundation; among his many partners were David Grisman, Earl Hines, Bill Coleman, Larry Coryell, Oscar Peterson, Jean Luc Ponty, and McCoy Tyner. He stayed active until shortly before his death, still ranking at the pinnacle of his instrument even at age 89 despite growing physical frailty. All of his early work can be found on Classics CDs, and he maintained a prolific recording schedule throughout his final three decades.