Salle Pleyel Mar. 29th 1983 (& Olympia Jan. 24th 1988) - Stephane Grappelli

Advantages: Great Trad Jazz
Disadvantages: None

...Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt was one of the first important jazz musicians to be born in Europe. He spent most of his youth in the gypsy encampments close to Paris, France, playing banjo, guitar and violin. At an early age he started playing professionally at dance halls in Paris. When he was 18, he was injured in a fire in his caravan loosing the use of his 3rd and 4th fingers on his left hand. After this he focused on the guitar and developed an original style of playing that emphasized his undamaged fingers. The man is nothing short of the original guitar god influencing everyone from the Beatles, Tony Immoni, B. B. King, Willie Nelson, and myself. I lost the use of my left forefinger due to an accident. I decided that if Django could do it with 2 fingers then I could do it with 3 fingers!!!!!! Stéphane Grappelli is quite... Read review

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Advantages: Some of the best Jazz violin playing ever heard
Disadvantages: Very few

...Stephane Grappelli does jazz like no other. Although he started off as a pianist, studying at the Paris conservatoire, Grappelli soon became one of the pioneers of jazz violin, indeed violin improvisation. Crazy rhythm is a compilation of some of Grappelli's most well known versions of jazz classics, recorded in the early 70s. What shocked me on the first listen is the real character he gets out of the violin, from youthful exhuberance in tracks like Crazy Rhythm and Sweet Georgia Brown to more conversational, lyrical tones in Ain't Misbehaving. Grappellis bow and strings certainly convey more emotion than many of the world's better singers. Crazy Rhythm really shows off Grappelli's technical expertise, which is not lacking in the slightest. This is aided by the fact he is unconstrained by a score, as all classical musicians are... Read review

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Advantages: Impressive site, spectacular location, museum well presented
Disadvantages: modern village very touristy

...The modern village of Olympia is in sharp contrast to the adjacent Ancient site, but it is worth suffering the tourist trappings of the modern village to experience the peace and tranquility of the site itself. Modern Olympia's main street is lined with hotels and tourist shops selling books, ceramics and T shirts. It is the starting point for most visitors to the site and can at times be quite noisy, especially in the spring when coach loads of overseas and Greek students fill the hotels and local restaurants with their boisterous activity. The ancient site lies at the end of the village and has a tree lined walkway leading to its entrance. Once you leave the modern village behind, the atmosphere changes as you enter the calm of the valley. Although the ruins are not particularly well preserved when compared to the likes... Read review

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