Biréli Lagrène

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Hearing him is like watching an expert juggler throw more china in the air, not worrying about the occasional drop, while the audience gasps and grins with pleasure.

—The Guardian

From the very beginning, music was Biréli Lagrène’s language—specifically, the music of swing-era jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Born into a large Roma family in Alsace, France, in 1966, Lagrène was hailed as a guitar prodigy. When his debut, Routes to Django, was released in 1980, the guitarist, then 13, was immediately praised by critics as an heir to Reinhardt’s jazz-guitar legacy. Over time, Lagrène broadened his approach, developing exquisite taste and an ability to absorb the musical styles of the greats while paving a path incorporating gypsy swing, straight-ahead jazz, fusion, rock, and pop.