Stephane Grappelli, Barney Kessel: Limehouse Blues

One of the all-time great jazz violinists (ranking with Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith as one of the big three of pre-bop), Stéphane Grappelli's longevity and consistently enthusiastic playing did a great deal to establish the violin as a jazz instrument. He was originally self-taught as both a violinist and a pianist, although during 1924-28 he studied at the Paris Conservatoire. Grappelli played in movie theaters and dance bands before meeting guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1933. They hit it off musically from the start even though their lifestyles (Grappelli was sophisticated while Django was a gypsy) were very different. Together as Quintet of the Hot Club of France (comprised of violin, three acoustic guitars and bass) during 1933-39 they produced a sensational series of recordings and performances. During a London engagement in 1939, World War II broke out. Reinhardt rashly decided to return to France but Grappelli stayed in England, effectively ending the group. The violinist soon teamed up with the young pianist George Shearing in a new band that worked steadily through the war.
In 1946, Grappelli and Reinhardt had the first of several reunions although they never worked together again on a regular basis (despite many new recordings). Grappelli performed throughout the 1950s and '60s in clubs throughout Europe and, other than recordings with Duke Ellington (Violin Summit) and Joe Venuti, he remained somewhat obscure in the U.S. until he began regularly touring the world in the early '70s. Since then Grappelli has been a constant traveler and a consistent poll-winner, remaining very open-minded without altering his swing style; he has recorded with David Grisman, Earl Hines, Bill Coleman, Larry Coryell, Oscar Peterson, Jean Luc Ponty and McCoy Tyner among many others.
Active up until near the end, the increasingly frail Grappelli remained at the top of his field even when he was 89. His early recordings are all available on Classics CDs and he recorded quite extensively during his final three decades. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi


1. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
2. Out of Nowhere
3. Tea for Two
4. Limehouse Blues
5. How High The Moon
6. Willow Weep For Me
7. Little Star
8. Undecided

Updated link (LP-ripped)
hotjazzandcoolblues

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Grappelli & Venuti: Venupelli Blues

Un poco de nostalgia -y de swing- para disipar la tontería postvacacional.
Hace ma o meno unos 30 abriles, allá por el verano de 1980, mientras en la radio sonaban no sólo esas moderneces madrileñas hoy tan "legendarias" para los políticos y el pueblo lanar, sino también cosas de Bob Marley, Ritchie Havens o Vinicius de Moraes, casi al mismo tiempo que tuve a bien descubrir el sorprendente swing europeo (Django Reinhardt) o el laberinto de Thelonious Monk, pasé por una repentina obsesión por los violines y los fiddles que, naturalmente, dejó una huella bastante profunda -y no sólo en mi inseparable colección de cassettes. Bluegrass y Old Time (el mejor antídoto contra la pereza), las suites y los conciertos de Bach (mano de santo), Paganini por Salvatore Accardo (inolvidable), los Hermanos Balfa a ritmo de vals cajun y two-step, y otras maravillas varias (algún día dedicaremos una entradita a los fiddles de Blues, por ejemplo). Y, cómo no, el maestro Grappelli.

Sí, la discografía de Monsieur Grappelli no es moco de pavo, pero con el debido respeto al Quintette Du Hot Club de France y demás, debo decir que esta saludable reunión con el maestro americano, el gran Joe Venuti, y la inestimable cooperación de George Wein al piano y Barney Kessell a la guitarra, puede ser tranquilamente la guinda de todo el pastel. Aunque la grabación original es de 1969 (pocos meses después de otra magnífica reunión con Kessell, "Limehouse Blues"), el disco se editó en España once años después, en una serie de Affinity entre maravillas de Coltrane o Wes Montgomery en directo, por cierto. Y, bueno, ahí está. Sólo hagan la prueba con una tía-abuela que no sepa nada de jazz o alguien similar: pónganle ese "I Can't Give You" o ese vertiginoso "After You've Gone" unos instantes y verán si no acaba convertida al Evangelio del Swing per secula seculorum...

1- I Can't Give Anything But Love :-O

2- My One And Only Love

3- After You've Gone :-O
4-Undecided

5-Venupelli Blues

6-Tea For Two

7-I'll Never Be The Same

hotjazzandcoolblues

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Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, Svend Asmussen and Jean Luc-Ponty: Violin Summit

Violin Summit featured Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, Svend Asmussen and Jean Luc-Ponty (with pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, drummer Alex Riel) in concert (September 30, 1966). The music came off quite well, in large part probably because the four violinists were paired in different sets with all four actually featured together on only one take, "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing." ~ Bob Rusch, Cadence, All Music Guide



Summit Soul
Pent-Up House
Timmie's Blues
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Pennies from Heaven
Only Time Will Tell
Hot Toddy

line-up:

Jean-Luc Ponty - Violin
Stéphane Grappelli - Violin
Svend Asmussen - Violin
Stuff Smith - Violin
Kenny Drew - Piano
Niels-Henning Pedersen - Bass
Alex Riel - Drums

hotjazzandcoolblues

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