Interesting question, curious as to what prompted it?
Violin has been arguably the most prominently feature instrument in classical for hundreds of years, often getting the main melody in orchestral pieces and starring in quartets and other small pieces. OTOH, jazz violin is pretty rare. Of course Stefan Grappelli and a few others are amazing talents, but the repertoire is limited, inclusion in top jazz bands is few & far between. In fact I would argue that if you listed the top 100 most important jazz musicians none would be violinists. Grappelli and Ponty might be the only two in the conversation. Cheers,
Spencer
Violin has been arguably the most prominently feature instrument in classical for hundreds of years, often getting the main melody in orchestral pieces and starring in quartets and other small pieces. OTOH, jazz violin is pretty rare. Of course Stefan Grappelli and a few others are amazing talents, but the repertoire is limited, inclusion in top jazz bands is few & far between. In fact I would argue that if you listed the top 100 most important jazz musicians none would be violinists. Grappelli and Ponty might be the only two in the conversation. Cheers,
Spencer