Stéphane Rossetti Excel

This Grappelli box set bringing together 37 titles, including 23 previously unreleased, celebrates the violinist's friendship with the pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Gérard Gustin. A first album, entirely unpublished, produced by Sacha Distel in 1970, allows us to hear Stéphane in a “string” context. A setting that perfectly suits this gentleman of the violin. The two quartet sessions brought together in the second volume present another aspect of the discographic collaboration between the two men, which spanned almost ten years. As a bonus, a new unpublished quintet session from 1961, with guitarist Pierre Cullaz.

This Grappelli box set bringing together 37 titles, including 23 previously unreleased, celebrates the violinist's friendship with the pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Gérard Gustin. A first album, entirely unpublished, produced by Sacha Distel in 1970, allows us to hear Stéphane in a “string” context. A setting that perfectly suits this gentleman of the violin. The two quartet sessions brought together in the second volume present another aspect of the discographic collaboration between the two men, which spanned almost ten years. As a bonus, a new unpublished quintet session from 1961, with guitarist Pierre Cullaz.

This Grappelli box set bringing together 37 titles, including 23 previously unreleased, celebrates the violinist's friendship with the pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Gérard Gustin. A first album, entirely unpublished, produced by Sacha Distel in 1970, allows us to hear Stéphane in a “string” context. A setting that perfectly suits this gentleman of the violin. The two quartet sessions brought together in the second volume present another aspect of the discographic collaboration between the two men, which spanned almost ten years. As a bonus, a new unpublished quintet session from 1961, with guitarist Pierre Cullaz.

"Percé jusques au fond du coeur" ("Pierced to my heart's depths") is a tragic proclamation of Le Cid's voice, at last put to music by "Mr Charpentier, famed for a thousand works that charmed all of France". This collection of courtly arias, serious songs and drinking songs, played both at the Court of Louis XV and in the inner circles of the French bourgeoisie, is a marvellous maze on the Map of Tendre developed by Charpentier, a poet-musician whose sophistication vies with an irresistible sense of theatricality! Under the direction of Stéphane Fuget, the cream of French vocalists restores the original aura of these gems, with glittering ornamentation.

Vol. 1. One of the nice things about jazz is the cross-pollination of different players in multiple settings. No one would've thought of pairing swing violinist Stéphane Grappelli and bop pianist Oscar Peterson, for instance, but the match works very well. The pair have expanded into a quartet on this reissue with the aid of double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Kenny Clarke. The set, recorded in 1973 in Paris, includes a handful of standards, from Pinkard/Tracey/Tauber's "Them There Eyes" to Rodgers & Hart's "Thou Swell." As one might guess, Grappelli is in his own element on upbeat, swinging pieces like "Makin' Whoopee" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home." Peterson likewise joins in the spirit of these pieces, making them the most interesting interpretations on the album. Other material, like the lingering "Flamingo" and "My One and Only Love," are also enjoyable, but seem rather tepid in comparison…

Vol. 1. One of the nice things about jazz is the cross-pollination of different players in multiple settings. No one would've thought of pairing swing violinist Stéphane Grappelli and bop pianist Oscar Peterson, for instance, but the match works very well. The pair have expanded into a quartet on this reissue with the aid of double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Kenny Clarke. The set, recorded in 1973 in Paris, includes a handful of standards, from Pinkard/Tracey/Tauber's "Them There Eyes" to Rodgers & Hart's "Thou Swell." As one might guess, Grappelli is in his own element on upbeat, swinging pieces like "Makin' Whoopee" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home." Peterson likewise joins in the spirit of these pieces, making them the most interesting interpretations on the album. Other material, like the lingering "Flamingo" and "My One and Only Love," are also enjoyable, but seem rather tepid in comparison…

Reinvented for cello and piano by two artists whose reputation is unequivocal, these Images oubliées paint a timeless portrait of a musical legend.