François Vola, guitarist and composer, was born in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France, in 1953. He is a double national (France and USA). He is the godson of

Louis Vola Louis Vola (La Seyne-sur-Mer, France, 6 July 1902 – 15 August 1990, Paris), was a French double-bassist known for his work with the Quintette du Hot Club de France. He is the godfather of guitarist Francois Vola. As well as the Hot Club d ...

(bassist with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

's The Hot Club of France). He started playing guitar semiprofessionally at the age of 14. In 1974, at age 20, he moved to the US, studied bluegrass and swing, and played in several bands. Vola played on several albums and recorded three of his own, in 1983 ''Francois Vola'' with fiddler Byron Berline (Stephen Stills, Linda Ronstadt, The Rolling Stones) and banjoist John Hickman. In 1996 an electric jazz album ''Old World, New World'' with mandolinist Emory Lester, and in 1997 ''A Night in Conover'', an acoustic jazz album, with Django's son Babik Reinhardt and Emory Lester. In the US Vola played on stage with Tony Rice, Wyatt Rice, Byron Berline, David Grisman, Bill Keith, Emory Lester, Babik Reinhardt, Tony Williamson, Dan Crary, Roland White, and others. He played several times at the prestigious Merle Watson fest as well as other festivals and events. He won two awards from the North Carolina school of the arts for his compositions and was invited to play one of his pieces with the North Carolina's Western Piedmont Symphony. In 1998 Vola moved back to France where he continues his musical career. Vola plays on guitars that he builds. In 2019 he puts out a new Bluegrass CD named "Back To Bluegrass", very well received by the music magazines. Back to Bluegrass: http://bluegrassmusic.com/content/2019/reviews/francois-vola/ Back to Bluegrass: https://acousticguitar.com/cd-review-francois-vola-back-to-bluegrass/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vola, François 1953 births Living people People from Nice French jazz guitarists French male guitarists French jazz composers Male jazz composers