Violinist Stephane Grappelli, although a veteran of the swing era, has always kept an open mind toward newer styles even while he has retained his own sound and veteran repertoire. This duet set with pianist McCoy Tyner might seem unlikely at first glance but it works quite well. The duo sticks to standards (including two that are associated with John Coltrane) and find plenty of common ground. The mutual respect they have for each other is obvious and they both sound a bit inspired.

Violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908-1997) was honored in 1998 with this 22-track tribute slapped together by the Giants of Jazz label. Covering a time span from September 30, 1935, to January 21, 1943, this pleasant potpourri of classic continental swing sessions samples his early Hot Club of France recordings and follows the fiddler into temporary wartime exile as he collaborated with young George Shearing and a talented array of British jazz musicians. The collection opens with two delicious duets with Django Reinhardt, then shuffles together recordings made in Paris and London that were released under Grappelli's name. The Hot Four (heard performing W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" in 1935) actually added up to a quintet as the violinist interacted with bassist Louis Vola and three guitarists: Django and Joseph Reinhardt and Pierre Ferret…

The Jazz Club series is an attractive addition to the Verve catalogue. With it's modern design and popular choice of repertoire, the Jazz Club is not only opened for Jazz fans, but for everyone that loves good music. This is a Beautiful compilation of Stephane Grappelli in the 1970s; in addition to "Hot Club of France" style of bands (with two guitars and a bass accompanying the great French fiddler), there are also some tracks with piano (featuring, among others, George Shearing).

Atlantic has thus far been very slow to reissue its six valuable Gary Burton records. This particular set is the most accessible of the group, for it matches the advanced vibraphonist with the classic violinist Stephane Grappelli in a quartet also including electric bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bill Goodwin. The music alternates between standards and originals (including Swallow's famous "Eiderdown"), and both Grappelli and Burton prove to be flexible enough to have much common ground despite a 35-year difference in age. A frequently delightful set.

"The man who was Django’s prestigious partner in the first, immortal Quintette du H.C.F. has made an appearance (on wax) for Barclay with a series of recordings in which you can rediscover his pretty sound and abundant, easy ideas; in a word, his style which, though with less of a bite than before, has lost none of its grace." Those were the first lines of the review that a certain Michel Delaroche (in fact Boris Vian) wrote for the November 1955 issue of Jazz Hot; the subject was this album, the first that Stéphane Grappelli ("Grappelly" at the time) had made on violin under his own name since he'd left England.
The violinist had celebrated his definitive return to France at the Club Saint-Germain on the night of April 25th 1954; he would appear there on and off for the next seven years…

This Classics CD has all of the recordings made under violinist Stephane Grappelli's name during the 1935-1940 period. The earlier selections (with his Hot Four) match his violin with Django Reinhardt's guitar in what was essentially the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. There are also nine duets with Reinhardt; a couple find Grappelli switching to piano. The set concludes in 1940 with Grappelli (in London) leading an octet on two numbers that also feature the young pianist George Shearing.

Violinist Stephane Grappelli will forever be remembered as musical partner to the immortal Django Reinhardt - certainly not a bad thing, except that it conveniently overlooks the nearly half-century's worth of music that Grappelli made without the Gypsy guitar great. When this one-hour performance was recorded in 1989, the elegant, urbane Frenchman was already in his 80s, but he had lost none of his exceptional technique and flair. He's joined here by two exceptional guitarists (Martin Taylor and Marc Fosset) and a bassist; the lineup is much like that of the original Reinhardt-Grappelli Hot Club quintet, and they even play some of that group's standard material ("Honeysuckle Rose," "Daphne"), along with more modern fare like Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and Chick Corea's "Armando's Rhumba"…

Yehudi Menuhin was a dazzling virtuoso from childhood who became a key humanitarian in addition to being a celebrated concert artist.
The legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin was the eldest child of Russian-born Hebrew scholars who met in Palestine, emigrated to New York City, and moved to San Francisco soon after their son's birth. After just three years of violin study, Yehudi made a legendary debut at age seven with the local symphony. His Carnegie Hall debut three years later, in the Beethoven Violin Concerto, garnered praise that likened him to Mozart as a prodigy, whereupon the family (which now included sisters Hephzibah and Yaltah) lived gypsy-like in hotels wherever Yehudi was engaged at enormous fees…

Stephane Grappelli may have given up standing during concerts late in life as a concession to his health, but at the age of 82, he still swung like mad with the best of them, as heard in this 1990 concert recorded in Tokyo. Accompanied by guitarist Marc Fosset and bassist Jean-Philippe Viret, with the addition of accordion player Marcel Azzola on a few selections, the violinist devotes a good part of his show to the expected standards from the 1930s and 1940s. Highlights include a swinging "Just One of Those Things," a delightful "Honeysuckle Rose" and a loping "Ol' Man River," the latter which adds ripples supplied by Azzola's accordion, until the dam breaks and the second half of the song comes on like a spring flood…

This 1984 studio session finally appeared commercially on the Cymekob label in 1995, featuring violinist Stéphane Grappelli in a rare meeting with harmonica player Toots Thielemans; the rest of the group included guitarists Martin Taylor and Marc Fosset with bassist Brian Torff. Though producer Andy Kulberg claims in his notes that neither musician had recorded any of the songs, this is a bit of a stretch. Things get off to a good start with a swinging "Bye Bye Blackbird" and are only weighed down slightly by the tedious "Just the Two of Us" and Paul Simon's lightweight "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover." The rich ballad "Georgia on My Mind" rekindles the fire within the session and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is highlighted by Thielemans' matchless whistling. While this release could have been stronger with better chosen songs, it will be an essential acquisition for fans of either Grappelli or Thielemans.

By the time the 71-year-old Stephane Grappelli made this live trio recording with guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, his legacy as the greatest of all jazz violinists was firmly in place. Granted, that made him first in a fairly short line of colleagues - other than Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith, who else was there to consider? (Jean-Luc Ponty doesn't count.) But it's hard to imagine another player, regardless of virtuosity, ever conveying the same sense of swing and simple joie de vivre that Grappelli does with virtually every note. Nor does it hurt that his accompanists on this album are among the finest in their fields; Orsted Pedersen plays with a solidity and rhythmic power that are enough to make you forget the absence of a drummer, while Pass slides effortlessly between unobtrusive chordal backup and bravura soloing…

Pianist Oscar Peterson and violinist Stephane Grappelli meet up for this Scandinavian concert. The "backup" crew (guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Niels Pedersen, and drummer Mickey Roker) isn't too bad either. In addition to a closing blues (which is highlighted by tradeoffs from Peterson and Grappelli), the quintet performs five veteran standards with creativity and swing.

It's obvious that this CD was marketed to the classical crowd first by its packaging and use of CBS rather than the Columbia label. Don't let that fool you; this is a jazz session with the renowned classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma joining the fun. The emphasis is on the music of Cole Porter, which was very familiar ground to Grappelli long before the session took place. The sparkling performances of the violinist throughout the date should be no surprise. The cellist seems to be gradually getting his feet wet on the opening title track, but becomes more prominent on "Easy to Love" and cuts loose on "I Concentrate On You"…