Biréli Lagrène was born on September 4, 1966, in Soufflenheim, (Bas-Rhin) in a traditional manouche-Gypsy family and community. He started playing the guitar at the age of four. When, at the age of eight, he covered Django Reinhardt’s repertoire, his relatives were already calling him a child prodigy. Winning a Gypsy music festival (in Strasbourg) at the age of twelve gave him the opportunity to tour in Germany and, later, to record his live performance on the double LP Route to Django. Offered a chance to leave for the United States, Lagrène met the greatest jazz musicians of the international scene such as Stéphane Grappelli, Benny Goodman, Benny Carter, etc. In 1984, he met Larry Coryell in New York. Later, he was introduced to bassist Jaco Pastorius and ventured with him into jazz fusion. Together, they toured Europe, which contributed a great deal to Lagrène’s musical emancipation. Back to a more traditional style, Lagrène recorded Gipsy Project and Gipsy Project and Friends in 2001.
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