Florin Niculescu (born 8 February 1967 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) is a Romanian violinist of Romani (Gypsy) ethnicity.

Family background and education

Niculescu was born into a family of educated ''

lăutari The Romanian language, Romanian word lăutar (; plural: ''lăutari'') denotes a class of musicians. The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of Romani musicians in the late 18th century. The term is derived from ''lăută'', the ...

''. Everybody in his family was involved in music: his father and his uncle were violinists, his mother a pianist and his sister a cellist. He received his first violin lessons from his father, with whom he started to study seriously when he was 4–5 years old. At 6 he enrolled at the Dinu Lipatti Music School and then at George Enescu Music High School where he was a first prize student. He played with his father at weddings and celebrations and developed his improvisation skills. When he was about 13 he heard violinist

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

, who would become his idol and jazz his main attraction.

Career

In 1991 he left for Paris to fulfill his dream of meeting Grappelli and making a name in jazz. He got his first gig at a Russian cabaret. He enrolled in the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, although his jazz teacher told him from the first audition that he shouldn't waste his time and should be playing on stage. He continued to play on various scenes with various musicians. Niculescu met Grappelli in 1994. Grappelli proposed they record an album, but Niculescu declined, believing that he didn't deserve the honor. He hoped to receive some lessons from Grappelli but Grappelli told him that he has nothing to teach him as the Romani had a fantastic natural technique. In 1995 he joined Romane's band, and in 2001 he was invited by Biréli Lagrène to join his Gipsy Project inspired by the

Quintette du Hot Club de France The Quintette du Hot Club de France ("The Quintet of the Hot Club of France"), often abbreviated "QdHCdF" or "QHCF", was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli and active in one for ...

. He has worked with

Roberto Alagna Roberto Alagna (; born 7 June 1963) is a French operatic tenor. He obtained French citizenship in 1981, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship. Early years Alagna was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, outside the city of Paris, in 1963 t ...

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

, Marcel Azzola,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

, Patrick Bruel, Regina Carter,

Angelo Debarre Angelo Debarre (; born August 19, 1962) is a French Romani gypsy jazz guitarist. Biography Debarre was born in Saint-Denis, Paris, and began playing at age eight. In 1984, he formed his first group, the Angelo Debarre Quintet. In 1985, the ...

Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu (; ; born 7 September 1965) is a Romanian soprano, especially known for her performances in the operas of Puccini and Verdi, widely recognised by critics and opera lovers as one of the greatest sopranos of all time. Embarking ...

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

Hot Club de Norvège Hot Club de Norvège is a string jazz quartet from Norway, established in 1979, by guitarist Jon Larsen with childhood friends Per Frydenlund and Svein Aarbostad. Biography They are influenced by the music of Hot Club de France, and the French ...

Patricia Kaas Patricia Noëlle Kaas (; born 5 December 1966) is a French singer. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson. Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album '' Mademoiselle chante...,'' Kaas won 6 Victoires de la Musique awards and ...

, Jon Larsen, Giani Lincan,

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

, John McLaughlin,

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

, Bucky Pizzarelli, Babik Reinhardt, Jimmy Rosenberg,

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigen ...

, and

Tchavolo Schmitt Tchavolo Schmitt (born 1954 in Paris) is a Romani jazz guitarist. Schmitt performed as a member of various ensembles in the 1970s. Then he settled in Strasbourg and left the professional circuit for a time, releasing solo albums in 2000. He play ...

. Violinist Scott Tixier was Niculescu only student when he was 15 years old in Paris.

Discography

* 1995 ''Portrait of Django'' with

* 1999 ''L'Esprit Roumain'' with Corneliu Niculescu * 2000 ''Gipsy Ballad'' * 2005 ''Djangophonie'' (

Le Chant du Monde Le Chant du Monde was a French music publishing house. It was created in 1938 by Léon Moussinac and was supported in the beginning by classical composers Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Charles Koechlin, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Alber ...

) * 2005 ''Four Friends'' (Jardis) * 2008 ''Florin Niculescu Plays Stéphane Grapelli'' (Blu Jazz) * 2010 ''Django Tunes'' ( Enja) * 2018 ''Florilège'' (

Hot Club Records Hot Club Records is a jazz record label established 1982, by guitarist Jon Larsen in Oslo, Norway.Dregni, Michael (2008) ''Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing'', OUP USA, , p. 229 The label has released over 35 ...

)

References

Notes

Sources

Florin Niculescu - Django Tunes

Florin Niculescu interview
- in Romanian
Florin Niculescu interview
- in Romanian

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niculescu, Florin 1967 births Living people Romanian jazz violinists Romani violinists Romanian Romani people Romanian violinists Male violinists Lăutari and lăutărească music 21st-century violinists 21st-century Romanian male musicians Male jazz musicians