Stéphane Grappelli: With And Without Django 
By
Paul Balmer

New  - the official biography of Stephane Grappelli (Press Reviews/Comments)

About the man:-

"If anybody ever defined jazz it's Stéphane because it flowed from him. It wasn't anything you learnt in a manual; it was an instinct."
Michael Parkinson

"He's got such an infinite charm in his playing … he's got that kind of timeless feel. He was the style of music."
Nigel Kennedy

"He was a one-off. I don't know that you'll ever hear or see that again. It's like Duke Ellington, you know. He was so unique and so gifted and he commanded respect. He had the best ballad-playing sense of the violin that I know of. There was grace to his playing that is seldom found in many other so-called ballad players in the jazz world."
Oscar Peterson

About the book:-

Born in Paris in 1908, Stephane Grappelli experienced every decade of the Jazz Century. At the age of six his precocious talents led him to study dance with the tempestuous Isadora Duncan, before the First World War forced him onto the streets of Montmartre, where he displayed the grit and determination that would propel him on to the stages of the world.

Grappelli's astonishing story spans 77 years, during which time he performed with the great names in Jazz - Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Joe Venuti, Martin Taylor. But it is his performances with Django Reinhardt, his greatest friend, that he is perhaps best remembered.

The pair cut a swathe through the embryonic world of music recording building a legacy that would outlive them both.

Containing exclusive interviews with Stephane, contributions from his friends and family, much newly discovered evidence on both Stephane and Django and many previously unpublished photographs, 'Stephane Grappelli, with and without Django' is a slice of music history, a testament to a man who invented his own style of jazz.

About the author:-

Born in Liverpool in 1951, Paul Balmer is a multimedia director and BBC radio presenter. 

He first met Stephane Grappelli in 1978, and his works on the violinist include the BAFTA nominated DVD and Video ' A Life In the Jazz Century' - 'A Masterpiece' 'Just Jazz Guitar' USA and 'The best documentary of a musicians life I have ever seen' - 'Fanfare' USA.

He also wrote and produced the acclaimed '80 Years on the Fiddle' for BBC Radio. This became 'Critics Choice' in four national newspapers and the lead story on BBC's 'Pick of the Week'.

Paul is an enthusiastic musician and has written three documentary soundtracks for BBC Television. 

His writings for Television and Radio include 'Music From The Red Sea Shores' - BBC Radio 3, and the Award winning 'Africa I Remember' for BBC 2. He is a contributing author to the Penguin Encyclopaedia of Popular Music.

Paul founded his own multimedia company 'Music On Earth' with Producer Judy Caine in 1994. Their commitment is 'to tell music's great stories' in a thorough yet entertaining form.