Stephane Grappelli
Musician · 1908–1997 · Paris, France
Best known for
Songwriter
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who, with guitarist Django Reinhardt, co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934 — the all-string Paris ensemble that more or less invented gypsy jazz. He continued touring into his nineties; the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award arrived the year of his death.
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- Born January 26, 1908, in Paris to a French mother and an Italian father.
- Lost his mother as a young child and spent World War I in an orphanage before being reclaimed by his father.
- Took up violin at twelve and attended the Paris Conservatoire from 1920 to 1923.
- Met Django Reinhardt in 1931 and co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with him in 1934.
- Spent World War II in London while Reinhardt remained in occupied Paris; resumed their partnership intermittently after the war until Reinhardt’s 1953 death.
- Toured and recorded prolifically through the 1970s, 80s, and 90s with David Grisman, Yehudi Menuhin, McCoy Tyner, and many others; recorded a 1973 Pierre Cavalli album with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
- Received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
- Died in Paris on December 1, 1997.
