Spanning the Century
Dear Stéphane,
I often came to visit you for a little “rehearsal” for an hour or so. You were either in your armchair or on your bed, sleeping with one eye open, and you would tell me: “Get yourself a drink and sit down here.”

In the beginning of December, when I heard the news of your death, I came by as usual. I got myself a drink and while sipping it I thought about your incredible record career. My short analysis was the following: apart from your great talent as an instrumentist, you had the secret talent of a composer. However, all during your career, you preferred putting your talent to the “service;” you paid tribute to experts in the field, your contemporaries in the first half of the century, such as George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, and, of course, Django Reinhardt.

Through playing their compositions, with which you identified so well, I noticed you were mostly the composer of three essential pieces: Beauty, Purity and . . . Liberty. Thanks again, Stéphane, for your friendship and your simplicity.
—Marc Fosset