At the time of this 1962 session,
Stephane Grappelli
had not yet recaptured the fame that he achieved during his prewar partnership with
Django Reinhardt
, though he was hardly idle at the time. This meeting with guitarist
Pierre Cavalli
, bassist
Guy Pedersen
, and drummer
Daniel Humair
covers many tunes previously recorded by
the Quintet of the Hot Club of France
, but also delves into more recent works like
John Lewis
' elegant tribute to the late guitarist (
"Django"
) and
Sonny Rollins
' catchy
bop
vehicle
"Pent-Up House,"
both of which became a part of
Grappelli
's repertoire for the remainder of his career. The violinist is in good form, but not quite as inspired as he would be once his star rose a few years later.
Cavalli
's brash style of playing is no match for later
collaborators such as
Joe Pass
,
Martin Taylor
, or
Marc Fosset
. In any case, this CD from the bargain-priced Jazz in Paris series is definitely worth the money. ~ Ken Dryden