Swiss-born Pierre Cavalli originally played the violin but switched to the guitar as a teenager to purses his interest in jazz.Born in July 1928, he moved to Paris in 1953 where he founded a trio and did studio work with Art Simmons, Michel Legrand and Quincy Jones. He got to Jamie Records through Barclay Records, his French label. Like most small labels in the 1950s, Jamie thought albums were the sign of maturity and the success of Duane Eddy inspired the company to find international instrumentalists who would not need translation to foreigners. Jamie’s greatest success in this regard was “Ciao Ciao Bambina,” which came out on Jamie Records soon after the Pierre Cavalli release.
Cavalli joined Friedrich Gulda’s Euro Big Band, with which he U.S. and Soviet Union and, in the 1960s played with Stephane Grappelli. He returned to his native Switzerland, where he became a soloist for the DRS Big Band and. Worked at the International Jazz Workshop with Hans and Ingfried Hoffmann In 1983 he founded the Guitar Summit band with Marus Plattner, Thomas Moeckel, Markus Plattner and Roberto Bossard. He also touered with his wife, vocalist Nanda Van Bergen. Pierre Cavalli died on March 28, 1985.
