Bon anniversaire, Stéphane January 26, 2008

Today would have been the one hundredth birthday of the greatest jazz violinist of all time.

Above, from 1991, the eighty-three-year-old Stéphane Grappelli performs “How High The Moon” by Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis, accompanied by McCoy Tyner on piano, Marc Fosset on guitar and Jean-Philip Viret on bass.

Here’s a clip of Grappelli appearing on Michael Parkinson’s BBC program with the classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin, playing “Tango Jalousie” by Jacob Gade. It was the beginning of a collaboration that led to several wonderful records.

And here is Grappelli with his most famous collaborators.

Technorati tags: Stéphane Grappelli, Mccoy Tyner, Marc Fosset, Jean-Philip Viret, How High The Moon, Nancy Hamilton, Morgan Lewis, Yehudi Menuhin, Tango Jalousie, Jacob Gade, Michael Parkinson