Biréli Lagrène is one of the greatest guitar virtuosos in any style of music. A prodigy of the instrument, he started out at as Gypsy guitar wizard. Later he developed a highly distinctive and innovative style, drawing much praise for his fertile blend of swinging continental jazz, post-bop, fusion and rock.

He has collaborated with such legendary players as Stéphan Grappelli, Ginger Baker, Al di Meola, Paco de Lucía, John McLaughlin and countless others. Given that roster of top collaborators one might mistakenly assume that Lagrène is quite advanced in years, but this is not the case; the fact is, he was drawn to the guitar as a child of four, and after auditioning at the intermission, was invited onstage with Grappelli for the second half – when he was only ten years old. When his Routes to Django: Live was issued in 1980, the 13-year-old jazz guitarist was immediately praised by critics as a protégé of Django Reinhardt. He had already won a prize in a festival at Strasbourg in 1978, and his appearance at a Gypsy festival was broadcast on television. He soon broadened his approach, exploring a wide variety of jazz from Wes Montgomery to Jimi Hendrix and got recording with some of modern jazz’s biggest names.