Stéphane Grappelli

After his phenomenal success with Django Reinhardt in the pre-war Quintet of the Hot Club of France, violinist Stéphane Grappelli's recording career was a bit erratic until interest revived in his music in the late 1960s. So these 1962 studio sessions, initially released by Atlantic as Feeling + Finesse = Jazz are a rare opportunity to hear the master during this period in his career. Accompanied by guitarist Pierre Cavalli, rhythm guitarist Leo Petit, bassist Guy Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair, Grappelli draws primarily from his repertoire of standards and originals previously recorded with Reinhardt. Cavalli is a competent guitarist but hardly the imaginative improviser that could inspire Grappelli to the heights of which he was capable. Unlike some of the other reissues of the original album, this Drive Archive, like an earlier self-titled Everest budget LP, includes two tracks recorded during the original sessions that were omitted. Unfortunately, the demise of Drive Archive makes this expanded reissue a little more difficult to acquire. Not one of Stéphane Grappelli's best records within his vast discography, but his fans will want to search for this disc. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide