Stéphane Grappelli

French jazz composer and violinist

• Born: January 26, 1908
• Birthplace: Paris, France
• Died: December 1, 1997
• Place of death: Paris, France

A pioneer in jazz violin, Grappelli stands out as a responsive, humorous, and melodic improvisator of exceptional tone, clarity, and creativity.

Member of Quintet of the Hot Club of France

The Life

Stéphane Grappelli (grah-PEHL-lee) was the only child of a French mother and an Italian father. When he was four years old, his mother died of cancer. Brief study with Isadora Duncan at the unconventional American expatriate’s dance studio exposed Grappelli to the music of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Richard Wagner.

Grappelli spent most of World War I under abysmal conditions in the Catholic orphanage system because of his father’s compulsory conscription into the Italian army. After the war, Grappelli reunited briefly with his father under penurious circumstances. Encouraged by his father, Grappelli began to study piano and violin, guided by music books from Le Bibliothèque Nacionale de France. Largely self-taught, Grappelli attended the Paris Conservatory beginning in 1920 for three years, his only formal musical training. Fully professional and living on his own by fifteen, Grappelli performed violin publicly in courtyards and cinema houses. His early repertory consisted primarily of small pieces by composers such as Gabriel Fauré, Robert Schumann, Enrico Toselli, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Grappelli supported himself through most of the 1920’s playing piano in a style akin to Bix Biederbecke’s. As part of a jazzy band called Gregor and the Gregorians, Grappelli again picked up the violin, and by the end of the decade he played that instrument almost exclusively.

In the early 1930’s, Grappelli and Django Reinhardt formed the Hot Club Quintet, comprising the unusual combination of three guitars, violin, and double bass. Comparable to and inspired by the style of Joe Venuti and guitarist Eddie Lang from Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra, the group attained transatlantic fame with virtuosic performances and recordings of American standards by jazz icons such as George Gershwin, Fats Waller, and Irving Berlin, along with original tunes, before disbanding at the start of World War II. Grappelli joined with pianist George Shearing during the 1940’s and reunited with Reinhardt briefly before settling into a steady gig at the Paris Hilton.

From the 1960’s until the end of his life, Grappelli embarked on multiple recording and performance projects in myriad venues around the world with a wide array of respected artists such as Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Lakshminarayanan Subramaniam, Jean-Luc Ponty, Paul Simon, Earl Hines, Manhattan Transfer, McCoy Tyner, Yo-Yo Ma, and Yehudi Menuhin. Grappelli died in 1997 after complications from surgery, and he was buried in Paris in Pére Lachaise Cemetery.

The Music

Grappelli’s music epitomizes the hot jazz movement of the 1930’s. His improvisations spring from the melodies to explore the gamut of emotions. Known best for covering jazz standards by composers in a lively swing fashion, Grappelli has also covered an impressive multiplicity of works, ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (1731) to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Although Grappelli has written a modest number of works, which he keenly conveyed with animation, they have been overshadowed by his renditions of more popular melodies.

“H.C.Q. Strut.” Coauthored by Grappelli and Reinhardt, the aptly titled work served as a theme for the Hot Club Quintet. The recording opens with a lively introductory interplay between violin and guitar, which features harmonics and typifies the short lively tunes with steady guitar-driven rhythms and virtuosic improvisation featured in the quintet’s repertory during the 1930’s. The singing melody provides a vehicle for Grappelli’s spirited performance.

“Honeysuckle Rose.” This jazz standard by Waller and Andy Razaf, again marked by an introductory duet by Grappelli and Reinhardt, serves as a prime example of the quintet’s characteristic approach to familiar melodies. Grappelli answers Reinhardt’s stunningly fluid two-fingered solo passages with his archetypal creativity, complete with rapidly bowed arpeggios, swinging scalar runs, and slides.

“Jalousie.” Penned by Jacob Gade, this work warrants attention as the first televised collaboration between classical violinist Menuhin and Grappelli on the British Broadcasting Corporation. Despite Menuhin’s skills as an interpreter of classic works, he does not improvise, and his part had to be arranged and memorized. Conversely, Grappelli’s performances in rehearsals varied each time, earning deep respect from Menuhin for their deftly responsive enthusiasm. The performance plays like a dialogue between two intimate friends, testifying to Grappelli’s ability to respond dynamically to the music as it evolves. The unusual partnership helped bridge gaps between the classical and jazz realms, and it further legitimized Grappelli’s standing as a world-class violinist.

“Stéphane’s Blues for Abby.” In 1990 Grappelli composed this blues tune as one of three original pieces for an album of solo piano playing entitled My Other Love. Revered for his prowess on violin, Grappelli provides a rare glimpse into his formidable talents as a pianist, and this work represents a fine example of his skills at transforming melodies.

Musical Legacy

Grappelli facilitated the acceptance of violin in all forms of jazz and of jazz violin as a medium for interpreting works from all genres. In his autobiography, Menuhin paid homage to Grappelli, declaring that the artist could off the cuff “use any theme to express any nuance—wistfulness, brilliance, aggression, scorn—with a speed and accuracy that stretch credulity.” In 1997 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honored Grappelli with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Principal Recordings

albums (solo): Unique Piano Sessions, 1955 (with Stuff Smith); Violins No End, 1957; Improvisations, 1958; Feeling + Finesse = Jazz, 1962; Two of a Kind, 1965 (with Svend Asmussen); I Remember Django, 1969; In Paris, 1969; Limehouse Blues, 1969 (with Barney Kessel); Stéphane Grappelli Meets Barney Kessel, 1969 (with Kessel); Venupelli Blues, 1969 (with Joe Venuti); I Hear Music, 1970; Afternoon in Paris, 1971; Homage to Django, 1972; Jalousie: Music of the 30’s, 1972 (with Yehudi Menuhin); Satin Doll, 1972; Parisian Thoroughfare, 1973; Stardust, 1973; Stéphane Grappelli, 1973; Stéphane Grappelli/Bill Coleman, 1973 (with Bill Coleman); Stéphane Grappelli Meets the Rhythm Section, 1973; Talk of the Town, 1973; The Giants, 1974 (with Jean-Luc Ponty); Les Valseuses, 1974 (with Georges Delerue); Stéphane Grappelli Meets Earl Hines, 1974 (with Earl Hines); Les Calmos, 1975 (with Delerue); Violinspiration, 1975; Paris Encounter, 1976; The Reunion, with George Shearing, 1976 (with George Shearing); Tea for Two, 1977 (with Menuhin); London Meeting, 1978; Uptown Dance, 1978; Stéphane Grappelli and Hank Jones: A Two-fer!, 1979 (with Hank Jones); Young Django, 1979; At the Winery, 1980; Happy Reunion, 1980 (with Martial Solal); Vintage 1981, 1981; Stephanova, 1983; Bringing It Together, 1984 (with Toots Thielemans); Together at Last, 1985 (with Vassar Clements); Grappelli Plays Jerome Kern, 1987; Stéphane Grappelli: Who’s Who in Jazz, 1987; How Can You Miss?, 1989; My Other Love, 1990; One on One with McCoy Tyner, 1990; Shades of Django, 1990; Something Old, Something New, 1990 (with the Franciscan Chamber Players); Tivoli Gardens, 1990 (with Joe Pass); Anything Goes, 1992; Conversations, 1992; Stéphane Grappelli and Michel Legrand, 1992 (with Michel Legrand); So Easy to Remember, 1993; It’s Only a Paper Moon, 1994; Flamingo, 1995 (with Michel Petruccian); Aquarius, 1996; It Might As Well Be Swing, 1996; Le Sur Le Toit de Paris, 1996 (recorded 1969).

singles (with Quintet of the Hot Club of France): “Sweet Sue, Just You,” 1935; “Ultrafox,” 1935; “Georgia on My Mind,” 1936; “Swing Guitars,” 1936; “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” 1937; “Tears,” 1937; “Black and White,” 1938; “Daphne,” 1938; “Honeysuckle Rose,” 1938; “My Sweet,” 1938; “Souvenirs,” 1938; “H.C.Q.,” 1939; “I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight,” 1939; “Japanese Sandman,” 1939; “Jeepers Creepers,” 1939.

Bibliography

Balmer, Paul. Stéphane Grappelli: With and Without Django. London: Sanctuary, 2003. A musician, multimedia director, and British Broadcasting Corporation broadcaster, Balmer constructs this authorized biography from several interviews, including one with Grappelli’s only daughter. Includes illustrations.

Glaser, Matt, and Stéphane Grappelli. Jazz Violin. New York: Oak, 1981. An instructional guide, this work includes transcriptions of and tips on improvisation from key figures, including Grappelli, Venuti, and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Smith, Geoffrey. Stéphane Grappelli. London: Pavilion, Michael Joseph, 1987. Smith capitalizes on exclusive interviews with Grappelli and the violinist’s contemporaries to provide a contextualized biography. Includes illustrations and discography.