Biréli Lagrène | |
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 Lagrène performing at the Festival des Granges à Laimont, August 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1966-09-04)4 September 1966 (age 59) Soufflenheim, France |
| Genres | Gypsy jazz,swing,jazz fusion |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | BMG Rights Management,Blue Note,Dreyfus |
| Website | www |
Biréli Lagrène (born 4 September 1966)[1] is a French jazz guitarist who came to prominence in the 1980s for hisDjango Reinhardt–influenced style. He often performs inswing,jazz fusion, andpost-bop styles.
Lagrène was born inSoufflenheim,Alsace, France, into aRomani family and community. His father and grandfather were guitarists, and he was raised in the Gypsy guitar tradition. He started playing at age four or five and by seven was improvising jazz in a style similar to that ofDjango Reinhardt,[2] whom his father admired and wanted his sons to emulate. In 1980, while in his early teens, he recorded his first album,Routes to Django: Live at the Krokodil (Jazzpoint, 1981).[3][4]
During the next few years, Lagrène toured withAl Di Meola,Paco de Lucía, andJohn McLaughlin, all of them guitarists, and played withBenny Carter,Benny Goodman, andStéphane Grappelli.[1] He joinedLarry Coryell andVic Juris in New York City for a tribute to Reinhardt in 1984 and went on tour with Coryell andPhilip Catherine. He also performed withJaco Pastorius,Stanley Clarke, theGil Evans Orchestra,Christian Escoudé, andCharlie Haden. In 1989 he performed in a duo withStanley Jordan.[3]
His collaboration with Italian guitarist Giuseppe Continenza, with whom he has performed in numerous concerts and festivals, including thePescara Jazz and theEddie Lang Jazz Festival, began in 1998, when the two met behind the scenes of a festival and started talking about each other's musical interests.[5][6][7]
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