Biréli Lagrène

Biréli Lagrène (born September 4, 1966) is a French guitarist and bassist. He came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt-influenced style on the guitar, as well as for being a jazz fusion virtuoso on the electric guitar. He often performs within the swing, jazz fusion and post bop mediums. Biréli Lagrène was born on September 4, 1966, in Soufflenheim, Bas-Rhin Alsace, France, in a traditional Manouche-Romani people (Gypsy) family and community. He started playing the guitar at the age of four. He grew up in the loving but tough environment of the "tzigane". His father Fisso (a very gifted violinist), his mother Berga and his brother Gaiti were his biggest influences. When, at the age of eight, he covered Django Reinhardt’s...