RFI Musique: How did you set about composing your tribute to Stéphane Grappelli?
Didier Lockwood: The album was basically a gradual process of construction where we followed our instincts a lot. I spent a long time discussing things with Jean-Philippe Viret, the double-bass player who accompanied Stéphane Grappelli in the final years of his career. And I ended up asking Jean-Philippe to shape the material on the album. I trusted his judgement completely because he’s someone who knew Stéphane very well. I know the album’s long, but I didn’t feel there was anything we could possibly take out. It includes tracks that were actually written by Stéphane as well as pieces he was very attached to. We tried to make the whole thing as coherent as possible, but we also tried to vary the sound quite a bit, too. I felt it was my duty to pay tribute to Stéphane Grappelli so that he would live on in our collective memory. I wanted to make a ‘multi-perspective’ album that would help people understand the different facets of his talent.

And how did you choose the musicians involved in the project?
I wanted to share the experience with musicians who’d either played with Stéphane Grappelli or had some kind of direct or indirect link to him. I invited at least thirty different musicians to work on the project - and almost all of them accepted! We ended up with a wide spectrum of artists ranging from the singer Dee Dee Bridgewater to guitarists Sylvain Luc and Biréli Lagrène who actually plays viola on the album… My main aim was to produce a beautiful object in memory of Stéphane. I drew the portrait of him on the album cover myself and we included a number of special bonuses, too, such as an interview between Stéphane and myself that was filmed in 1984. It’s a nice piece.

You met Stéphane Grappelli when you were just a young musician starting out on your career…
Yes, that’s right, I was 20 the first time I played with him. I was a member of Michel Colombier’s big band at the time and the band invited Stéphane Grappelli to play with them at this concert at the Nancy Jazz Pulsation festival in 1974. I did this chorus that he particularly liked. Anyway, a couple of days later, Stéphane turned round and said, "OK, kid, do you want to accompany me on my next European tour?" I was really surprised. That was the start of my career. Playing with Stéphane Grapelli was the launchpad from which I took off. That was my initiation into the world of popular jazz.

And what values did Stéphane Grappelli pass on to you as a mentor?
To me, Stéphane was an absolute bastion, a role model who guided me in my own life. He was someone who taught me to step back and get a bit of distance on success. And someone who always, without fail, approached life with lightness and a lot of humility. The thing Stéphane enjoyed most in life was laughing and getting together with a bunch of mates to play jazz. That’s what counted most for him. His extreme sensitivity was a constant source of inspiration to me, too.

Musically speaking, Stéphane was quite simply an extraordinary violinist. A fine example of suppleness, elegance and virtuosity. Playing jazz on the violin is really very demanding. But like a true pioneer, he ended up democratizing his chosen instrument and carving out a place for the violin in the jazz world. Jean-Luc Ponty carried on his work from there.

Stéphane Grappelli really embodies the spirit of jazz from another age. In your opinion, how has jazz evolved over the last thirty years?
Well, that’s a bit of a difficult question. I’ve never really considered myself as a jazz musician, you know. In my opinion, jazz and swing should be playful kinds of music, something that’s played spontaneously in the moment. I’ve never liked the cerebral and elitist side of jazz. I belive that in order for jazz to exist and go on existing you have to have total freedom of expression. And I think it’s a shame that these days certain aesthetic circles, some of them very questionable ones, have attempted to confine jazz. Jazz is really a music with no limits.

I always try and keep in mind that music is a means of communication. That’s the spirit I always try and impress on pupils in my school. I tell them that jazz is real-life rhythm. Jazz is a sort of inner dance going on inside of us all the time.