Sorab Modi remembers the sparkling career of St6phane Grappelli

Bornto
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Sorab Modi remembers the sparkling career of St6phane Grappelli,
the genial French violinist who transformed jazz with his individual style
t6phane Grappelli was for me a {igure of mythic
dimension. I had heard his records with the legendary
Quintette du Hot Club de Rance, with jazzmen such
as Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Barney Kessel,
Toots Thielemans and others. I even tried. but with
despairingly little success, to recreate his phrasing, style and
inirnitable sense of rhythm on a few iazz standards. Grappelli
brought to his every per{ormance a tremendous joie and everyouthful vitality. British-born jazz critic Leonard Feather said
tliat the violinist played with more cheerd.rl self-con{idence in his
late 60s thanhe had done inhis youth.
years fiom 1927 he discarded his violin and played the piano r,vith
bands such as Gr6gor and his Gr6goriens. Accordirig to the.
compose4 bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter,
who first played with Grappelli in 1937, 'His piano playing was
lovely. . . like everything he has ever done it r.vas in good taste.'
Grappelli discovered jazz
tirrough hearing recordings of
Tetr f,,r Tlro and Stuttbling in a
local shop and he introduced
Stantbling to the cinema pit
band, but it was his meeting
with the g1'ps1' guitarist Django
I first met Grappelli after a session at a Washington, DC
night-club in 1981 and was overwhelmed by his warrr-r and genial
Reinhardt that changed the
course of his jazz career.
personality. Yes, his achievements over 60 1'ears of music had gir.
en him an aura of invincibilitl', yet here was the gentlest of giants.
That {irst meeting led to several more. These included his 1990
India visit for the jazz festival Jazz Yatra. There, apart from playing with his rhythm section, the 82 year old, always in search of
Grappelli attributes the begin-
ning of their famed collaIt happened
boration to fate.
betr.veen sets at a hotel where
each 'nvas plaf ing in bands t|at
new experiences, teamed up with the Indian violinist
alternated. Grappelli broke
Subramtrniam and Indian percussionists to create some magical
moments. He moved between the different styles with easy and
!:
utterlv remarkable musical refinement. Subramaniam
was
alu'ays trmazed by Grappelli's eagerness to reach for new expres-
sion and recalls that, 'For our encounter in Bombay I wrote
Com:ersation and he in his turn composed Tiibute to Mani. He
was a supreme musician and I respect his memory'
Grappelli was
a largely self-taught musician. With
his
music-loving father he went to concerts in Paris and his ears were
awakened to music. He craved to make music himself and when
he was given a violin by his father he recalled, 'We had a piano in
the house and to amuse myself I started to play the violin and pick
out some chords on the piano.'The youngster also heard street
musicians who were playing popular songs and'I tried to do the
same m)'self using one or two fingers on the violin. We were not
rich and I did not have much pocket money. I saw the musicians
playing in the courtyard and earning.' So one day he decided to
follow their example and began to earn money himself
Encouraged by his father to leam music, Grappelli enrolled at
the Paris Consen,atoire and acquired a diploma. But to earn aliving
he took a job as second fiddle with a silent-film pit group. They
plays6 th. shows at 2pm and Spm and a pianist played the 5pm
show. One dal' the pia:rist asked Grappelli to deputise for him. 'This
happened again and again. That's how I leamed to play the piano.'
The piano became Grappelli's other love and for three or four
a
string and rvent backstage to
replace it. While he was tr. ;
out the new string Reinhardt
'Stdphane was a
supreme artist
because he had the
tone and the beauty
ol a classical violinist
but the swing
of a iazz violinist.'
began to accompany him on his
guitar. These early musical doo-
dlings pleased them and the,v
continued
to play
between
breaks. Soon guitarist Roger
Chaput and bassist Louis Vola
joined them, as did Reinhardt's
brotherJoseph. On 2 December
1934 the group playecl its first
date at the Hot Club in Paris and
the Quintette du Hot Club de
Rance was born. Tbe group
began recording, and some of its early cuts included Dinah,
Tiger Rag, Laclg Be Goocl and I Saro Stms,It was soon hailed as
delivering the first independent European jazz style.
The discs that followed those earl1' recordings in a stead.v
stream for some five years were interrupted by World War IL
Grappelli spent the war years in England, during which time
he collaborated with musicians inch,rding the pianist George
Shearing. He and Reinhardt were reunited in London in
1946 and recorded La Marseillaise , music fitting for A new (-
testimony to his impeccable artistry and to his successful
collaborations with a huge variety of artists, including many fellow violinists such as Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, Jean-Luc Ponty
and Didier Lockwood. Among the most remarkable of these is
his swing recording of the first movement of Bach s 'Double'
Concerto with the American violinist Eddie South, which
Grappelli later described as 'un catastroph'. The German occupation army in Paris in the 1940s considered it a monstrous
example of degenerate art and melted down the entire pressing.
Luckily a number of copies in private hands have sunrived.
In 1990 Grappelli recorded a solo piano CD with several jazz
standards and three Grappelli originals. What makes this disc
amazing is the fact that the 82 year old sustains the whole session
without rhythm. Thomas Frost, who co-produced the disc with
Bob Thiele, recalled: 'It was in an afternoon and part of an
evening that we accomplished a whole album... He was a bit
temperamental and perhaps a little bit cranky after two or three
hours. I was fascinated by his ability. I had never heard him pla1,
Grappelll wlth the Ouintette du Hot Club de Paris. Formed in 1934, the
group was hailed as delivering the lirst independent European jazz style
piano and it was amazing to me how facile and accurate he was.'
beginning. But although the Quintette attempted to regroup it
''-'n split up. Reinhardt died in 1953 and when Grappelli later
p,.formed with the Canadian guitarist Diz Disley's trio, they
kept a fifth chair empty in Reinhardt's memory.
During the 1950s and '60s, despite regular public appearances
in Europe, Grappelli experienced something of a lull in his
Grappelli will always remain the father figure in the
world of jazz violin. His prodigious talent, amiability and
career until America discovered him in the 1970s. His
American debut at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1969 was
spoiled by the rioting of the drunken crowd, but after his
Carnegie Hall debut in 1974 Grappelli saw his US popularitl'
rise and he toured there regularly. For his 80th birthday in
1988 members of the jazz and classical music worlds,
including the Juilliard Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma, gathered at
under his wing when he found him in the Yehudi Menuhin
School, but it is perhaps Jean-Luc Ponty who can claim the
direct line of succession. Even the success of string quartets
in jazz, such as the Tirrtle Island and the Uptown, can be
linked to what Grappelli has achieved. To quote violinist Joe
Kennedy Jr, 'he was a tremendous, tremendous influence...
every practitioner in the area ol jazz violin appreciates his
marvellous contribution.' D
Carnegie Hall to pay tribute to him. Joel Smirnoff, lead
violinist of the Juilliard, recalls his association with Grappelli
like a dream happening.
Producing this Carnegie Hall event was conductor and
arranger Ettore Stratta. Stratta and Grappelli had collaborated
over the lilm Le Voleur and their association lasted for almost
two decades. According to Stratta, 'St6phane was a supreme
artist on the violin because he had the tone and the beauty ofthe
cr-rical violinist but the swing of a jazz violi:nist. He was a
cornbination of the best of both worlds.'
almost evangelical zeal helped him spread the message of the
pass on the
bow to another generation and he nurtured talent'uvherever
he found it. He took the then tweive-year-old Nigel Kennedy
violin in iazz. He always realised that he had to
as
Grappelli's popularity was further enhanced
by
his
association with Yehudi Menuhin. The pair appeared on television in 1973 and r.vent on to record severa.l albums, the first of
which was/alousie for EMI. Menuhin, who admired Grappelli
greatly, said:
'My privileged friendship with
St6phane
Grappelli is marked by the smile and sound of gentleness; gentleness unburdened by the usual human anxieties, ambitions,
competition or aggression. He played his heart out with
a
directness unknown to the classical musical world. . . He played
the violin as abird flies.'
Grappelli continued
to play until very recently. In
September 1995 I heard him for the last time at the Baird
Auditorium in Washingtons Smithsonian Institution. The vitality
and flawless inventiveness ofhis playing had
a
fteshness and pris-
tine beauty; musically he was still young. That day he played two
concerts, ending the night with a fascinating solo piano set which
he played with grace and fluency. But age had taken its toll.
Walking was difficult and he had to be helped on to the stage,
with the guitarist carrying his violin.
Grappelli's hundreds of recordings span the development of
sound recording from the old shellac to the CD. They are a
1908 Born St6phane Grappelly 26 January in Paris
1911 Mother dies; Grappelly placed in orphanage
1918 Taken out of orphanage to live with father
1920 Teaches himself to play the violin and learns to read music
from library books
1922 Gets iob in cinema pit band
1924 Plays in club band; teaches himself the piano
1927 JoinsArmenian group Gr6gorand his Gr6goriensas pianist
c.1930 Takes up the violin again
1931 Meets gypsy guitarist Dlango Reinhardt
1934 Starts the Quintette du Hot Club de Paris with Reinhardt
1939-45 Works with George Shearing, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington
and others in London
c.1945 Changes nameto Grappelli
1946 Records swing version of Marseillaisewith Reinhardt;
Quintette regroups then splits up
1947 Embarks on solo career playing in concerts and festivals
round Europe
1950s Be-bop era lessens his popularity
1969 Makes
US debut at Newport Jazz Festival
o
1973 Teams up with Yehudi Menuhin on television and for
Tea for Two recording which later tops the charts
'1974 Makes acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut
1978 Celebrates 70th birthday with debut in RoyalAlbert Hall
1988 80th birthdaytribute held in Carnegie Hall
1997 ReceivesFrench Legionof Honouraward; dies 1 December
in a Paris clinic
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Yo-Yo
Ma and Stephane Grappelli
East West Arts Limited Presents
ANUP KUMAR
BISWAS
with
NIGEL CLAYTON
The Wigmore Hall
Sunday 15 October at7 o'clock
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for cello and piano,
Op. 5 No.l
MENDELSSOHN: Sonata for cello and
piano, Op. 58
NARESH SOHAL: Monody;Shades III
BRAHMS: Sonata in F major, Op.99
Tickers:
!5, t6, f8, .{- l0
from the Box Office, Wigmore Hall,
36 lfigmore Street, London W1.
Telephone 01-935 Zl41'
F or't'urther inf ormation contact
East West Arts Limited
:
93B Cambridge Gardens, London W10 6JE.
Tel: 0l-960 5889
{phorograf'lr
: Maraa
F
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