Stéphane Grappelli
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Stéphane Grappelli (January 26, 1908 – December 1, 1997) was a French pioneer jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Django Reinhardt. It was one of the first (and arguably the most famous) of all-string jazz bands.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
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[1]. He began playing the violin at age 13 and attended the Conservatoire de Paris studying the piano, 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[2] and played the saxophone.
His early fame came playing with the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Reinhardt, which disbanded in 1939 due to World War II.
[edit] Post War
After the war he appeared on hundreds of recordings including sessions with jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, vibraphonist Gary Burton, pop singer Paul Simon, mandolin player David Grisman, classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin, orchestral conductor André Previn, 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.
Grappelli is interred in Paris' famous Père Lachaise Cemetery.
[edit] Quotations
- "In the cinema, I had to play Mozart principally but was allowed some Gershwin in funny films. Then I discovered jazz and my vocation and kissed Amadeus goodbye."
- —Stéphane Grappelli, on his transition from silent film pianist to jazz violinist. [2]
- "Improvisation, it is a mystery. You can write a book about it, but by the end no one still knows what it is. When I improvise and I'm in good form, I'm like somebody half sleeping. I even forget that there are people in front of me. Great improvisers are like priests, they are thinking only of their God."
- —Stephane Grappelli [3]
[edit] Trivia
- 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". [4]
