One of the all-time great jazz violinists, Stéphane Grappelli's longevity and consistently enthusiastic playing helped establish the violin in jazz. His collaborations with guitarist Django Reinhardt from 1933 to 1939, with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, and in several reunions from the mid-'40s on, produced a sensational series of recordings. Grappelli teamed up with pianist George Shearing in the early '40s, and performed throughout Europe in the '50s and '60s, playing with such luminaries as Duke Ellington and Joe Venuti before he began regularly touring the world in the '70s. Active up until near the end, he recorded quite extensively during his final three decades. ~ Scott Yanow