Saturday 26 January 2019

Stephane Grappelli born 26 January 1908


Stéphane Grappelli (26 January 1908 – 1 December 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: his father, marquess Ernesto Grappelli was born in Alatri (Lazio). His mother died when he was four and his father left to fight in World War I. As a result he was sent to an orphanage. 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 of solo piano of the same name. His early fame came playing with the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Django Reinhardt, which disbanded in 1939 due to World War II. In 1940, a little known jazz pianist by the name of George Shearing made his debut as a sideman in Grappelli's band.


                             

After the war he appeared on hundreds of recordings including sessions with Duke Ellington, jazz pianists Oscar Peterson, Michel Petrucciani 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 André Previn, guitar player Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar player Joe Pass, cello player Yo Yo Ma and many others.

He also collaborated extensively with the British guitarist and graphic designer Diz Disley, recording 13 record albums with him and his trio, and with now renowned British guitarist Martin Taylor. In the 1980s he gave several concerts with the young British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.

Grappelli made a cameo appearance in the 1978 film King of the Gypsies, along with noted mandolinist David Grisman. Three years later they performed together in concert, which was recorded live and released to critical acclaim. Grappelli's music is played very quietly, almost inaudibly, on Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here. The violinist was not credited, according to Roger Waters, in order to avoid "a bit of an insult". A remastered version with Grappelli's contribution fully audible can be found on the 2011 editions of Wish You Were Here.

In January 1994, he celebrated his 86th birthday in concert with Stanley Black at London's Barbican Hall. He made records with several backing groups, played duets with Gary Burton, Earl Hines, Martial Solal, Jean-Luc Pony and many other leading jazzmen. He also ventured into other areas of music and, in addition to the duets with Menuhin, he has recorded with the western swing fiddler, Vassar Clements.

At ease with a repertoire based upon his early career successes, Grappelli's flowing style steadily matured over the years and the occasional uncertainties of his early work with Reinhardt are long forgotten. 

Perhaps at odd moments in his later years he seemed to be coasting, yet some of his recorded performances are very good while several of those from the mid- and late 70s are amongst the most distinguished in the history of jazz violin.

Of particular merit are Parisian Thoroughfare, recorded with the rhythm section of Roland Hanna, George Mraz and Mel Lewis, and a set recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 1973 when he was backed by Disley and Len Skeat. Grappelli's late flowering helped to prompt appreciation of the old tradition of jazz violin playing.

In the 1980s he gave several concerts with British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. Although sometimes confined to a wheelchair, he continued concert touring into the mid-1990s.

Among his many honours, Grappelli received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur, France's highest civilian honour. He was also inducted into the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame.

Stephan Grappelli died  in Paris on December 1, 1997 after undergoing a hernia operation. He is buried in the city's Père Lachaise Cemetery.



 (Compiled and edited from Wikipedia & Verve Music Group)

Here’s a clip of Stephane Grappelli at the  Warsaw Jazz Festival in 1991 with McCoy Tyner, piano; Jean-Philippe Viret, bass; Mark Fosset, guitar.

1 comment:

boppinbob said...

For “Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli* With The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France ‎– The Ultimate Collection” go here:

https://www54.zippyshare.com/v/4z7Hizsi/file.html

1-1 Limehouse Blues 2:47
1-2 My Sweet 2:55
1-3 Swing Guitars 2:25
1-4 Nuages 3:16
1-5 Djangology 2:55
1-6 Sweet Georgia Brown 3:07
1-7 You're Driving Me Crazy 2:52
1-8 I've Had My Moments 2:57
1-9 Sweet Chorus 2:44
1-10 H.C.Q. Strut 2:56
1-11 Rose Room 2:44
1-12 Ultrafox 3:17
1-13 Improvisation 2:40
1-14 Nocturne 3:13
1-15 Lambeth Walk 2:45
1-16 Appel Direct 2:57
1-17 Daphne 3:08
1-18 It Don't Mean A Thing 3:02
1-19 Moonglow 2:59
1-20 Them There Eyes 3:01
1-21 Three Little Words 2:51
1-22 Swing From Paris 2:31
1-23 China Boy 3:00
1-24 Chasing Shadows 2:56
1-25 Honeysuckle Rose 2:52
1-26 Billets Doux 2:54

2-1 Tiger Rag 2:32
2-2 Night And Day 2:34
2-3 I Got Rhythm 2:56
2-4 St. Louis Blues 3:28
2-5 It Was So Beautiful 2:51
2-6 I've Found A New Baby 3:03
2-7 I'm Confessin' 2:52
2-8 Stomping At Decca 2:26
2-9 Swing '39 3:19
2-10 The Sunshine Of Your Smile 2:50
2-11 Exactly Like You 2:30
2-12 Dinah 2:36
2-13 Souvenirs 2:38
2-14 Lade Be Good 2:54
2-15 I'll See You In My Dreams 2:31
2-16 I Saw Stars 2:31
2-17 Blue Drag 2:53
2-18 Oriental Shuffle 2:40
2-19 Some Of These Days 2:24
2-20 Black And White 2:57
2-21 Hungaria 2:47
2-22 Stockholm 2:47
2-23 Why Shouldn't I? 2:48
2-24 Jeepers Creepers 3:15

Recording Dates:
1934: 2-1, 2-12, 2-14, 2-16
1935: 1-1, 1-5, 1-12, 1-18, 1-19, 1-24, 2-4 to 2-6, 2-10, 2-17, 2-19
1936: 1-3, 1-9, 2-18
1937: 1-7, 1-11, 1-13, 2-11
1938: 1-2, 1-6, 1-14 to 1-17, 1-20 to 1-23, 1-25, 1-26, 2-2, 2-3, 2-8, 2-13, 2-20, 2-23
1939: 1-10, 2-9, 2-15, 2-21, 2-22, 2-24
1940: 1-4
Unknown: 1-8, 2-7

For “Stéphane Grappelli ‎– Verve Jazz Masters 11” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/9478654/Stephane_Grappelli-VJM11.rar.html

1 Pennies From Heaven
2 Solitude
3 Ain't Misbehavin'
4 Star Eyes
5 Insensiblement
6 The Folks That Live On The Hill
7 Nuages
8 Manoir De Mes Réves/Daphne
9 Are You In The Mood?
10 Tears
11 Djangology
12 S-H-I-N-E
13 A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
14 Someone To Watch Over Me/I Got Rhythm

Violinist Stéphane Grappelli's maturity is nicely mapped by this Verve Jazz Masters compilation containing 14 recordings made between September 1966 and May 1992. A skilled improviser whose lengthy career began in the '30s when he co-led the Quintet of the Hot Club de France with Django Reinhardt, Grappelli had a very productive comeback during the time period covered by this collection. The cast of creative collaborators includes guitarists Diz Disley, Ike Isaacs, and Larry Coryell, pianists Michel Legrand and George Shearing, and bassists Eberhard Weber and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.
(AllMusic Review by arwulf arwulf)

For “Stephane Grappelli – Stardust (1973)” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/9478957/Stephane_Grappelli-Stardust.rar.html

1 Stardust (take 1) 3:54
2 The Nearness Of You (take 7) 3:53
3 Tournesol (take 6) 3:10
4 Greensleves (take 10) 1:35
5 You Go To My Head 4:40
6 Nature Boy 3:26
7 Can't Help Loving That Man O' Mine 3:44
8 We'll Be Together Again 4:24
9 The Talk Of The Town 4:06
10 Amanda 4:25
11 I Saw Stars 3:12
12 Greensleves (take 17) 2:00
13 Tournesol (take 8) 3:09
14 The Nearness Of You (take 8) 3:44
15 Stardust (take 2) 3:53

STEPHANE GRAPPELLI, violin
ALAN CLARE, piano
Recorded: March 19, 1973 at Anvil Studios, Denham, England.

A big thankyou to ludovici @ Entre Musica blog for original posts of first and last albums.