Stephane Grappelli may have given up standing during concerts late in life as a concession to his health, but at the age of 82, he still swung like mad with the best of them, as heard in this 1990 concert recorded in Tokyo. Accompanied by guitarist
Marc Fosset and bassist
Jean-Philippe Viret, with the addition of accordion player
Marcel Azzola on a few selections, the violinist devotes a good part of his show to the expected standards from the 1930s and 1940s. Highlights include a swinging "Just One of Those Things," a delightful "Honeysuckle Rose" and a loping "Ol' Man River," the latter which adds ripples supplied by
Azzola's accordion, until the dam breaks and the second half of the song comes on like a spring flood. The inevitable tribute to his late partner
Django Reinhardt comes in the form of a cooking medley of the guitarist's "Nuages" and "Daphne." But
Grappelli was also open to exploring newer works. He treats the audience to a bossa nova flavored take of
Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (opening with a bit of pizzicato violin) and a fleet interpretation of
Sonny Rollins' "Pentup House," featuring a great series of trade-offs between the violinist and
Azzola. This is easily one of the better
Stephane Grappelli CDs from late in his career. ~ Ken Dryden