Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. He has been called "the grandfather of jazz violinists" and continued playing concerts around the world well into his eighties.
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer.
Ray Willis Nance was an American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with Duke Ellington and his orchestra.
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith, better known as Stuff Smith, was an American jazz violinist. He is well known for the song "If You're a Viper".
Svend Asmussen was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing-style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many other notable jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Stephane Grappelli. He played publicly until 2010 when he had a blood clot, his career having spanned eight decades.
Ellington at Newport is a 1956 live jazz album by Duke Ellington and his band of their 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of [Ellington's] career... It stood for everything that jazz had been and could be." It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which ranks it "one of the most famous... in jazz history". The original release was partly recreated in the studio after the Ellington Orchestra's festival appearance.
Black, Brown and Beige is a 1958 jazz album by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, featuring Mahalia Jackson.
Tim Kliphuis is a Dutch violinist renowned for mixing gypsy jazz with classical and folk music, whose recent works have been dedicated to raising awareness about climate change.
Jazz violin is the use of the violin or electric violin to improvise solo lines. Early jazz violinists included: Eddie South, who played violin with Jimmy Wade's Dixielanders in Chicago; Stuff Smith; and Claude "Fiddler" Williams. Joe Venuti was popular for his work with guitarist Eddie Lang during the 1920s. Improvising violinists include Stéphane Grappelli and Jean-Luc Ponty. In jazz fusion, violinists may use an electric violin plugged into an instrument amplifier with electronic effects.
Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real is the final album recorded by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, featuring performances by Kirk with string section and orchestra. It was recorded following a stroke which left him partially paralysed.
Svingin' with Svend is an album by American musician David Grisman and Danish musician Svend Asmussen, released in 1987. It is attributed to the David Grisman Quintet featuring Svend Asmussen.
DGQ-20 is a 1996 compilation album by American musician David Grisman, recorded with his group David Grisman Quintet. Spanning the period from 1976 to 1996, this triple-CD set offers 39 songs, 18 of which were not released by Grisman before. Musicians include Tony Rice, Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Mark O'Connor, Stephane Grappelli and others.
The Summit format is used in jazz to bring together performers on a particular musical instrument. Though these recordings often feature other musicians, the main instrument is focused upon in a celebratory way.
First Time! The Count Meets the Duke is an album by American pianists, composers and bandleaders Duke Ellington and Count Basie with their combined Orchestras recorded and released on the Columbia label in 1961.
Festival Session is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia Records label in 1959. The album was rereleased on CD in 2004 with two bonus tracks.
Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1958 at a party for Columbia Records and released on the label in 1973. The Miles Davis Sextet was also recorded at the same event and released as the first volume of Jazz at the Plaza.
The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1944 is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded at Carnegie Hall, in New York City in 1944 and released on the Prestige label in 1977.
The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943 is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded at Carnegie Hall, in New York City in 1943 and released on the Prestige label in 1977.
The Big Sound is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges featuring performances with members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded in 1957 and released on the Verve label.
