Stephane Grappelli

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Stephane Grappelli (1908–1997), whose elegant, sunny yet powerfully inventive jazz violin helped propel Django Reinhardt (1910–1953) and the Quintette du Hot Club de France to international renown, was also one of the music world's most generous collaborators. Indeed, his greatness was at least partly due to his knack for picking the right partnerships, and by the end of his life the white-haired Maestro in the silk cravat was almost as treasured for his gracious demeanor as for his musical brilliance.
Grappelli (his surname was originally spelt with a "y") was born in Paris, France, the son of a philosophy teacher of Italian origin. He had already acquired a second-hand violin (a gift from his father) by 12 but the youthful multi-instrumentalist found his earliest employment as a pianist accompanying silent films, often slipping in snippets of his beloved Ravel, Debussy, Mozart or Gershwin for good measure. However, once he discovered jazz, his focus shifted and he began seeking out like-minded colleagues. While Grappelli was playing piano with Gregor's Gregorians, a major French ensemble, the bandleader heard him play violin and was moved to suggest that that Grappelli devote himself to that instrument exclusively in future.
A French jazz player, Philippe Brun, introduced Grappelli to Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and the two often found themselves performing with the same bands. The Quintette du Hot Club de Franc started out in 1933 as an informal jam session held between sets at the Hotel Claridge, where Grappelli and Reinhardt were part of the hotel's dance band. After the proprietors of the Hot Club heard them, they were invited to cut a debut record the following year and their blend of manouche (literally "traveler") or Gypsy traditions with American swing, plus aspects of French bal musette created a sensation, and led to their touring throughout Europe during the remainder of the '30s. The outfit's innovative combination of instruments, in which Grappelli's smoky-sweet violin functioned as a perfect foil to Reinhardt's searing guitar improvisations and was completed by two guitars acting as a rhythm section plus a double bass, became a signature sound of the pre-World War II French capital. After recording over 200 sides and sitting in with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Coleman Hawkins, the Quintette broke up in 1939 while on tour in England. Great Britain had just declared war on Germany and Reinhardt decided to return to Paris while Grappelli stayed in London. While there, he formed a band to entertain at hospitals and military bases, and since all the able-bodied men were off fighting Grappelli was forced to make do with geniuses like pianist George Shearing, who happened to be blind.
After the war, in 1946, there was a brief attempt to reestablish the Quintette du Hot Club de France but the bloom was gone and that incarnation did not last very long. Between 1948–'55, Grappelli worked at Club Saint Germain in Paris and played an extended residency at a venue in St. Tropez. He had also became a popular figurehead on the London scene, working with local musicians and continuing to forge his personal style. Over the ensuing years, Grappelli toured throughout Europe and elsewhere, appearing at clubs and festivals, on radio and TV and made dozens of albums as well. By the end of his life, he had gone from an iconoclast to the grand old man of French jazz; his sound gradually leaned more and more in the direction of Gallic charm and florid romanticism.
Grappelli's many partnerships included stints with fellow jazz violinists Jean-Luc Ponty, Stuff Smith and Svend Asmussen (dubbed "The Violin Summit") and a famous series of nostalgia-tinged concerts and recordings with British classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin during the '70s. He was also associated with Barney Kessel, Joe Venuti, Gary Burton, Oscar Peterson and American mandolinist David Grisman.