Didier Lockwood vs. Robby Steinhardt

Didier Lockwood (born February 11, 1956) is a French jazz violinist.

He was born in Calais and studied classical violin and composition at the Calais Conservatory. However, his brother Francis made him receptive to forms of music other than the classical and he quit his studies in 1972. Didier was entranced by the improvisation of Jean-Luc Ponty on Frank Zappa's King Kong album and took up the amplified violin. He joined the progressive rock group Magma, touring and notable featured on their 1975 Live/Hhaï album. Lockwood was also influenced by Polish violinist Zbigniew Seifert and Stéphane Grappelli, whom he joined on tour.

He has also played with Québécois fusion group Uzeb on their Absolutely Live album.

He is famous for exploring new musical environments and for performing various sound imitations on his amplified violin, such as seagulls or trains.

On July 23, 1982, in Montreux, Switzerland, he performed in concert with guitarist Allan Holdsworth, drummer Billy Cobham, bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, and keyboardist David Sancious.

Didier Lockwood created a string instruments improvisation school, CMDL (Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood), in 2001.

He has also composed several film scores, like Les Enfants de la Pluie.

He is married to singer Caroline Casadesus.

Throughout 2006 Didier has been touring with Martin Taylor the Jazz guitarist[1]. In these performances it is noticeable to see that he is very involved in improvisation.

Robby Steinhardt (born May 25, 1950) is a rock violinist and singer best known for his work with the group Kansas, for which he was co-lead singer / "frontman" and emcee along with keyboardist Steve Walsh, from 1973–1982 and 1997–2006. In the interim, he fronted his own band, Steinhardt-Moon. He has said that unless he has a writing credit on a song—his credits include about a half dozen songs—the violin (and occasional viola) part was written out for him, usually by Kerry Livgren. His departure from the band after the Vinyl Confessions tour in 1982 was for personal reasons.

[edit] Early life

Steinhardt grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and was the adopted son of Milton Steinhardt, director of music history at the University of Kansas. He started violin lessons at an early age and was classically trained. He has often said that joining a rock band caused him to develop poor playing habits, one of which is awkwardly holding his violin to the side of his head in order to hear himself better through the guitar amps and PA system.

[edit] Work with Kansas

Steinhardt's violin sound, and its interplay with the guitar and keyboards, helped define the Kansas sound. His lead vocals provided a contrast to the high tenor of singer Steve Walsh. The two often sang in harmony, with Steinhardt taking the lower voice.