Stephane Grappelli (A Life in Jazz) Omnibus Press Series Softcover

This riveting book by Paul Balmer is the definitive biography of a unique musician whose life spanned the 20th century. Stephane Grappelli's astonishing career ran on a parallel track to the history of jazz itself. Born in Paris in 1908, Grappelli was to become a member of the greatest European Jazz band of them all - the pre-war Hot Club de France Quintet - playing violin alongside gypsy guitar legend Django Reinhardt. That dazzling association with Reinhardt may have brought Grappelli his greatest fame, but his prodigious talent was also to give him a long and varied career in music playing with everyone from Duke Ellington and Joe Venuti to George Shearing and Oscar Peterson.