Florin Niculescu
Encyclopedia
Florin Niculescu is a Romania
n violin
ist of Romani (Gypsy) ethnicity. He is considered to be the best jazz manouche
violinist of our days, the successor of Stéphane Grappelli
. He is noted for his impressive technique and virtuosity as well as for his musical sensitivity.
. Everybody in his family was involved in music: his father and his uncle were violinists, his mother a pianist
and his sister a cellist
. He received his first violin lessons from his father, with whom he started to study seriously when he was 4–5 years old. At 6 he enrolled at the "Dinu Lipatti" Music School and then at the "George Enescu" Music High School, where he was a first prize student. Meanwhile he played with his father at weddings and celebrations, where he developed his improvisatory sense. When he was about 13 he heard for the first time violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who would become his idol and jazz
music his main attraction.
to fulfill his dream of meeting Stéphane Grappelli and making a name in jazz for himself. He got his first gig at a Russian
cabaret. He also enrolled in the Conservatoire de Paris
, although his jazz teacher told him from the first audition that he shouldn't waste his time there, instead he should be playing on stage. Meanwhile, he continued to play on various scenes with various musicians.
Niculescu finally met his idol, Stéphane Grappelli, in 1994. Grappelli was so impressed by him that he proposed him to record a disc together. Niculescu decline the offer believing that he didn't deserve the honor, yet. He hoped to receive some lessons from Stéphane Grappelli, but Grappelli told him that he has nothing to teach him as the Romani have a fantastic natural technique.
In 1995 he joined Romane's band and, in 2001, he was invited by Biréli Lagrène
to join his "Gipsy Project", inspired by the Quintette du Hot Club de France
. The couple Biréli Lagrène-Florin Niculescu succeeded the couple Django Reinhardt
-Stéphane Grappelli.
Meanwhile he started to record musical albums under his name and to have numerous collaborations with other musicians: Jimmy Rosenberg
, Babik Reinhardt
(son of Django Reinhardt), Giani Lincan, Angelo Debarre
, Hot Club de Norvège
, Tchavolo Schmitt
, Oscar Peterson
, Jon Larsen
, John McLaughlin
, George Benson
, Marcel Azzola
, Regina Carter
, Bucky Pizzarelli
, Dee Dee Bridgewater
, Wynton Marsalis
, Angela Gheorghiu
and Roberto Alagna
. He also worked with pop musicians like: Charles Aznavour
, Patricia Kaas
, Patrick Bruel
, Johnny Halliday and Henri Salvador
.
Niculescu has been called “successor to Grappelli” and “one of the greatest violinists ever”.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist of Romani (Gypsy) ethnicity. He is considered to be the best jazz manouche
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
violinist of our days, the successor of Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
. He is noted for his impressive technique and virtuosity as well as for his musical sensitivity.
Family background and education
Niculescu was born into a family of educated lăutariLautari
The Romanian word Lăutar denotes a class of traditional musicians. Most often, and by tradition, Lăutari are members of a professional clan of Romani musicians , also called Ţigani lăutari. The term is derived from Lăută the name of a string instrument...
. Everybody in his family was involved in music: his father and his uncle were violinists, his mother a pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and his sister a cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
. He received his first violin lessons from his father, with whom he started to study seriously when he was 4–5 years old. At 6 he enrolled at the "Dinu Lipatti" Music School and then at the "George Enescu" Music High School, where he was a first prize student. Meanwhile he played with his father at weddings and celebrations, where he developed his improvisatory sense. When he was about 13 he heard for the first time violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who would become his idol and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music his main attraction.
Career
In 1991 he left for ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to fulfill his dream of meeting Stéphane Grappelli and making a name in jazz for himself. He got his first gig at a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
cabaret. He also enrolled in the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
, although his jazz teacher told him from the first audition that he shouldn't waste his time there, instead he should be playing on stage. Meanwhile, he continued to play on various scenes with various musicians.
Niculescu finally met his idol, Stéphane Grappelli, in 1994. Grappelli was so impressed by him that he proposed him to record a disc together. Niculescu decline the offer believing that he didn't deserve the honor, yet. He hoped to receive some lessons from Stéphane Grappelli, but Grappelli told him that he has nothing to teach him as the Romani have a fantastic natural technique.
In 1995 he joined Romane's band and, in 2001, he was invited by Biréli Lagrène
Biréli Lagrène
Biréli Lagrène is a French guitarist and bassist. He came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt-influenced style on the classical guitar, as well as for being a jazz fusion virtuoso on the electric guitar...
to join his "Gipsy Project", inspired by the Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, and active in one form or another until 1948....
. The couple Biréli Lagrène-Florin Niculescu succeeded the couple Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
-Stéphane Grappelli.
Meanwhile he started to record musical albums under his name and to have numerous collaborations with other musicians: Jimmy Rosenberg
Jimmy Rosenberg
Joseph Rosenberg is a Sinto-Romani guitarist from Netherlands, known for his virtuoso playing of Gypsy jazz and other related styles....
, Babik Reinhardt
Babik Reinhardt
Babik Reinhardt was one of Django Reinhardt's sons, and a guitarist himself. He did not learn the guitar directly from Django, who wanted him to learn the piano instead, but from various other family members....
(son of Django Reinhardt), Giani Lincan, Angelo Debarre
Angelo Debarre
Angelo Debarre is a Romani guitarist in the manouche jazz style.He began playing at age 8 and in 1984 started his first group, the Angelo Debarre Quintet...
, Hot Club de Norvège
Hot Club de Norvège
Hot Club de Norvège is a string Jazz quartet from Norway, established in 1979, by guitar player Jon Larsen with childhood friends Per Frydenlund and Svein Aarbostad...
, Tchavolo Schmitt
Tchavolo Schmitt
Tchavolo Schmitt is a noted guitarist in gypsy jazz. He had some success with others in the 1970s, but then settled in Strasbourg and left the professional circuit for a time. He started putting out albums under his own name in 2000...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, Jon Larsen
Jon Larsen
Jon Larsen is an autodidact guitarist, composer, surrealistic painter, and record producer with heavy influence on the revival of Gypsy jazz worldwide...
, John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, Marcel Azzola
Marcel Azzola
Marcel Azzola is a French accordionist. During his career he has accompanied many of the most famous French singers of his era, including Boris Vian, Édith Piaf, Tino Rossi, Yves Montand, Juliette Gréco, Jean Sablon, Francis Lemarque, Gilbert Bécaud, and notably Jacques Brel Marcel Azzola (born...
, Regina Carter
Regina Carter
Regina Carter is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter.-Early life:...
, Bucky Pizzarelli
Bucky Pizzarelli
John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli is an American Jazz guitarist and banjoist, and the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and upright bassist Martin Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli has also worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett and also ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in...
, Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...
, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States...
and Roberto Alagna
Roberto Alagna
Roberto Alagna is a French-Italian tenor. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Early years:Alagna was born outside of the city of Paris in 1963 to a family of Sicilian immigrants . As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian cabarets for tips...
. He also worked with pop musicians like: Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
, Patricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas is a French singer and actress.Kaas is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following...
, Patrick Bruel
Patrick Bruel
Patrick Bruel is a French singer, actor, and professional poker player of Algerian Jewish descent.-Biography:...
, Johnny Halliday and Henri Salvador
Henri Salvador
Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean singer.-Biography:Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies...
.
Niculescu has been called “successor to Grappelli” and “one of the greatest violinists ever”.
Discography
- 1995 - Portrait Of Django together with Hot Club de NorvègeHot Club de NorvègeHot Club de Norvège is a string Jazz quartet from Norway, established in 1979, by guitar player Jon Larsen with childhood friends Per Frydenlund and Svein Aarbostad...
- 1999 - L’Esprit Roumain - recorded with his father, Corneliu Niculescu
- 2000 - Gipsy Ballad
- 2005 - Djangophonie
- 2008 - Florin Niculescu Plays Stéphane Grapelli
Trivia
- For the first 7 years he lived illegally in France. Sometimes he had to run away at the end of a concert for fear of being caught by the police. He was later offered French citizenship, but he refused it.
- He met his wife Vera at the Russian cabaret where he got his first gig. Although, they didn't speak a common language, he let her know after the first minutes that he wanted to marry her.
- He has been teaching improv to violinist Scott TixierScott TixierScott Tixier is an award-winning French jazz violinist and a recording artist.He was born in Montreuil and studied classical violin at the conservatory in Paris...
- A perfume bears his name.