Biréli Lagrène

Biréli Lagrène, one of the great names in gypsy jazz guitar and spiritual son of Django Reinhardt, was born in Soufflenheim (Bas-Rhin, France) on September 4, 1966. Born into a gypsy family, he began learning the instrument at the age of four and quickly mastered it, winning first prize at the Strasbourg Gypsy Music Festival at the age of fourteen. His encounter with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, a former member of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, continued from concert to tour. Already making a name for himself on the European scene, the guitarist began recording gypsy jazz albums for Island Records and Jazzpoint Records in 1980, under the name Biréli Lagrène Ensemble, before inviting Larry Coryell and Miroslav Vitous on Special Guests (1986) and bassist Jaco Pastorius in concert on Stuttgart Aria (1986). Signed to the Blue Note label, he produced jazz fusion albums such as Inferno (1987), Foreign Affairs (1988) and Standards (1992). His Tribute to Django Reinhardt performance at New York's Carnegie Hall, released on CD in 1993, was followed by collaborations with Richard Galliano, Larry Coryell, André Ceccarelli, Sylvain Luc, Marcus Miller and Michel Petrucciani. He successively formed the group Front Page (2000), the Biréli Lagrène Gipsy Project (2001-2007), the Gipsy Trio (2009) and joined forces with Cologne's WDR Big Band for the album Djangology (2006). His fifteen recordings for the Dreyfus Jazz label between 1993 and 2009 include To Bi or Not to Bi (2006), Live at the Festival (2008), Electric Side (2008) and Summertime, with Sylvain Luc (2009). He collaborates with The Rosenberg Trio, Joscho Stephan, or Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty on D-Stringz (Impulse!, 2015). His personal albums, Mouvements (2012) and Storyteller (2018), precede a tribute to Jaco Pastorius with André Charlier, Benoît Sourisse and the Multiquarium Big Band (2020). The guitarist enters his fifth decade of activity with Solo Suites (2022), followed by Biréli Lagrène Plays Loulou Gasté (2023) and Elegant People (2026).