Born in Bucharest in 1967 into a settled gypsy family, Florin Niculescu has grown into one of the finest violin players in jazz today. His father, violinist Corneliu Niculescu, the main collaborator of pan flutist Gheorghe Zamfir for ten years, was Florin’s first teacher on the instrument. At the age of six the boy entered the George Enescu Academy of Music in Bucharest and became a classical soloist. He was awarded a first prize from the Academy and in 1984 received a special mention from the jury of the Wieniavski International Competition in Ljubljana. In addition, he played alongside his father at weddings and celebrations. In 1990 he left Romania for France and settled in Paris where he started collaborations with Boulou and Elios FerrIJ, Romane, Babik Reinhardt, Christian EscoudIJ, Marcel Azzola, Michel Graillier, Angelo Debarre and others. In 1999 he recorded the prize-winning album “Gypsy Ballad” and in 2001 he was voted “Midem Jazz Tal...