Jazz violinist extraordinaire Stéphane Grappelli was born in Paris, the child of Italian immigrants to France. He taught himself to play piano and violin as a boy and, as a teenager, accompanied screenings of silent movies at local cinemas with classical music. Hearing recordings by Bix Beiderbecke and jazz violin great Joe Venuti changed Grappelli’s life. After Grappelli met the Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and "jammed" with him in the style of Venuti and guitarist Eddie Lang, the revolutionary idea of The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, featuring lead playing by Reinhardt and Grappelli, first recorded in 1934 and caused a sensation. World War II effectively broke up the Hot Club in 1939 and, though he would reunite with Reinhardt from time to time, Grappelli went on to work with a stellar list of musicians -- including Duke Ellington, George Shearing, Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines, McCoy Tyner, Joe Venuti and David Grisman -- remaining musically active for the next six decades of his life, recording, concertizing and creating.
