Reinhardt, who grew up in a camp outside Paris, became a virtuoso guitarist despite burns that made two of the fingers on his left hand useless. In 1934, he founded the Quintet of the Hot Club of France with violinist Stephane Grappelli, playing a distinctly European variant of swing accompanied by bass and a second guitar. Reinhardt later took up the electric guitar and performed with American groups in the bebop style, but his most beloved and influential records are the "Hot Club" recordings of the 1930s. He died in 1953 of a stroke.