STéPHANE GRAPPELLI
Name: Stephane Grappelli
Born: 26 January 1908 Paris, France
Died: 1 December 1997
Stephane Grappelli (January 26, 1908 - December 1, 1997) was a French jazz
violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django
Reinhardt. It was one of the first (and arguably the most famous) of all-string
jazz bands.
Grappelli was born in Paris, France to Italian parents. Sent to an orphanage as
a youth after his mother died when he was 4 and his father left to fight in
World War I, Grappelli started his musical career busking on the streets of
Paris and Montmartre with a violin. He began playing the violin at age 12,
and attended the Conservatoire de Paris studying music theory, between 1924 and
1928. He continued to busk on the side until he gained fame in Paris as a violin
virtuoso. He also worked as a silent film pianist while at the conservatory
and played the saxophone and accordion. He called his piano "My Other Love" and
released an album solely playing piano of the same name. His early fame came
playing with the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Reinhardt, which disbanded
in 1939 due to World War II.
After the war he appeared on hundreds of recordings including sessions with jazz
pianists Oscar Peterson and Claude Bolling, jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, jazz
violinist Stuff Smith, Indian classical violinist L. Subramaniam, vibraphonist
Gary Burton, pop singer Paul Simon, mandolin player David Grisman, classical
violinist Yehudi Menuhin, orchestral conductor Andre Previn, guitar player Bucky
Pizzarelli, guitar player Joe Pass, cello player Yo Yo Ma, harmonica and jazz
guitar player Toots Thielmans and fiddler Mark O'Connor. He also collaborated
extensively with the British guitarist and graphic designer Diz Disley,
recording 13 record albums with him and his trio. He also collaborated
extensively with now renowned British guitarist Martin Taylor. In the 1980s he
gave several concerts with the young British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.
In 1997, Grappelli received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an
inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Grappelli is interred in Paris' famous Pare Lachaise Cemetery.
Name: Stephane Grappelli
Born: 26 January 1908 Paris, France
Died: 1 December 1997
Stephane Grappelli (January 26, 1908 - December 1, 1997) was a French jazz
violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django
Reinhardt. It was one of the first (and arguably the most famous) of all-string
jazz bands.
Grappelli was born in Paris, France to Italian parents. Sent to an orphanage as
a youth after his mother died when he was 4 and his father left to fight in
World War I, Grappelli started his musical career busking on the streets of
Paris and Montmartre with a violin. He began playing the violin at age 12,
and attended the Conservatoire de Paris studying music theory, between 1924 and
1928. He continued to busk on the side until he gained fame in Paris as a violin
virtuoso. He also worked as a silent film pianist while at the conservatory
and played the saxophone and accordion. He called his piano "My Other Love" and
released an album solely playing piano of the same name. His early fame came
playing with the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Reinhardt, which disbanded
in 1939 due to World War II.
After the war he appeared on hundreds of recordings including sessions with jazz
pianists Oscar Peterson and Claude Bolling, jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, jazz
violinist Stuff Smith, Indian classical violinist L. Subramaniam, vibraphonist
Gary Burton, pop singer Paul Simon, mandolin player David Grisman, classical
violinist Yehudi Menuhin, orchestral conductor Andre Previn, guitar player Bucky
Pizzarelli, guitar player Joe Pass, cello player Yo Yo Ma, harmonica and jazz
guitar player Toots Thielmans and fiddler Mark O'Connor. He also collaborated
extensively with the British guitarist and graphic designer Diz Disley,
recording 13 record albums with him and his trio. He also collaborated
extensively with now renowned British guitarist Martin Taylor. In the 1980s he
gave several concerts with the young British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.
In 1997, Grappelli received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an
inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Grappelli is interred in Paris' famous Pare Lachaise Cemetery.