Stephane Grappelli  – violin (January 26, 1908 -December 1, 1997)

Today is the birthday of the musician whom many people call “the grandfather of the jazz violinists”Stephane Grappelli. Grappelli was born in 1908 and passed away in  1997 at the age of 89! He had  performed  well into his 80s!  Basically, I know of Grappelli through the album Paris Encounter recorded with Gary Burton in 1969 I should now Stephane Grappelli  because he founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934! The group was one of the first all-string jazz bands!

This morning I took a little time and listened to some of  Stephane Grappelli’s vast catalogue of music. The first album I listened to was Skol which he recorded with the great Oscar Peterson in 1979. Scott Yanow at AllMusic writes….

Pianist Oscar Peterson and violinist Stephane Grappelli meet up on this Scandinavian concert. The “backup” crew (guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Mickey Roker) is not too bad either. In addition to a closing blues (which is highlighted by tradeoffs from Peterson and Grappelli), the quintet performs five veteran standards with creativity and swing. This CD, a straight reissue of a Pablo LP, contains plenty of fine music. More at AllMusic

The second album of Stephane Grapelli‘s that I listened to several tracks from was, Stephane Grapelli and David Grisman Live – released in 1981. I only had a chance to listen to a few tracks on this album, but I loved what I heard and I really want to go back and listen to these two great musicians trade licks on this album!! Both of these guys are masters of their respective instruments!!

Later in the day I was listening to Emergence from Lawrence Blatt and the violin of Lila Sklar. When I went to Spotify and put in Lila’s name the only thing that the search returned was that she appeared on The Best of the pickPocket Ensemble. So I put the album on, while I was doing some surfing on the Internet.  It seems that the pickPocket Ensemble is a fairly well-known group from northern California that has produced six albums of original music. Their gypsy-tinged acoustic music has been featured in several films and on NPR and public television. Eric Feber, The Virginian-Pilot writes:

“This ensemble has effectively picked the pocket of a score of musical styles from all over the world to create a melodic and cohesive work of originality, humor and melodic invention.”

The band’s byline on their website is “new music for the World Cafe.” While Lila Sklar is not listed as a member of the band, she is listed as a friend and collaborator! The violin duties for the band are handled by Chloe Allen, who has performed in a wide variety of styles including classical, folk, pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, metal, circus, burlesque, punk, and Gypsy Swing!

So on a day that we honor the “grandfather of the jazz violin it was great to listen to a group of musicians, who are keeping the spirit of Stephane Grappelli alive. Happy Birthday, Stephane! I hope you and Django had a great day together!

Here is a playlist with some songs from each of the albums from above!!

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Mads Tolling – violin viola, and composer.Born July 5, 1980

Violinist Mads Tolling was born on this date July 5th in 1980 in Copenhagen,Denmark is violinist. If you think that I didn’t recognize his name on the list of jazz birthdays at All About Jazz this morning, you would be ……correct!! So

Mads Tolling (born July 5, 1980)[1] is a Danish-American violinist, violist, and composer. Tolling won Grammy Awards for “Best classical crossover album” as part of Turtle Island Quartet’s recordings 4+Four (2006)[2] and A Love Supreme – The Legacy of John Coltrane (2008).[2] Tolling also recorded on Stanley Clarke‘s The Toys of Men (2007).[3] He is currently first violinist with the Turtle Island Quartet,[4] soloist with bassist Stanley Clarke’s band,[3] and bandleader of his solo project the Mads Tolling Quartet.[5]

Born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tolling relocated to the United States to study at Berklee College of Musicwhere he graduated Summa Cumme Laude in 2003. Tolling received Denmark’s Sankt Annae’s Award for Musical Excellence as well as grants from Queen Margaret, the Sonning Foundation and the Berklee Elvin Jones Award. Since graduating from Berklee College of Music, Tolling has toured worldwide with the Stanley Clarke band and Turtle Island Quartet. Tolling has also performed with Al Di Meola, Kenny Barron, Paquito D’Rivera, and Leo Kottke. Read More

So after reading the above and a quick visit to Mads website I headed over to Spotify and gave a quick listen to some of his 2009 release The Playmaker and being impressed with what I heard I downloaded to the iPhone Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty: Live at Yoshi’s (I do know about Yoshi’s now!) the Quartet’s 2012 release and the Turtle Island Quartet’s 2010 release Have you Ever Been..? for further listening today! Here’s what some folks have to say about Mads violin playing……

Mads has the amazing talent and skills that few young musicians can match. His music is both beautiful and refreshing exhibiting his superb mastery of the modern American Jazz music that is rarely seen among his peers.”
-Jean-Luc Ponty

“While Tolling is skilled at evoking a beautiful melody, he’s equally adept at filling out the sound with powerful double-stops and intricate harmonics…”
-Strings Magazine

and about Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty

Mads Tolling Quartet Fires Up Oakland Venue Yoshi’s with Furious Sound.”……… “Completely engrossed in their complex rhythmic relationships, the four seemed wholly invested in the idea that their performance went deeper than simply entertainment but entered the realm of art-something challenging, for both audience and band.”
-Daily Californian

So join me as we say Happy Birthday, Mads Tolling and spend some time today exploring the music of Mads!

Here’s the Mads Tolling Quartet performing” Lila’s Dance”by John McLaughtlin…..

2015 Update In listening to The Playmaker again I see that the title track is dedicated to Tom Brady.While “The Contemplater” featuring Stanley Clarke to dedicated to Zinedine Zidane, “The Risktaker” is dedicated to LeBron James and features Stfefon Harris and “Starmaker Machinery” is dedicated to John McLaughlin!!
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