Stephane Grapelli & Julian Bream: Nuages

The other day I was perusing this site, a diamond in the gem for jazz video resource, when I found something incredible. Nevertheless, this webpage is a YouTube channel guide which breaks down literally thousands of videos of historically significant jazz musicians by instrument and then places them in chronological order. It is a staggering work of dedication and online sleuth work, and a terrific way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Every time I visit I find something wonderful, and this time it was this video of renowned classical guitarist Julian Bream accompanying the maestro Stephane Grapelli in a performance of Nuages; a tune made so famous by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli. I could not believe that I had missed a spot in my own listening education. That it was even be possible that two of my favorite musicians from different sound universes collaborated and I didn't know it, but it did happen, and thankfully I stumbled upon this video and corrected my error.

The performance is brilliant in spite of both performers advanced age. I really dig the crispness of Grapelli's scales and the obvious joy that these two treasured musicians get from playing together. Take a moment of your day to enjoy this unique performance and then dig a little deeper by browsing more videos from this comprehensive collection of jazz videos.