Native to Northern California, Jimmy Grant grew up in a household full of rich musical influences. While his early influences also included Russian Folk, Balkan, traditional Hungarian, Bluegrass, Celtic and Classical, from a young age he gravitated towards the music of Django Reinhardt. He plays a blend of musics from all over the world and his own compositions. He has studied with acclaimed guitarists Jim Nichols and Howard Alden, and in addition to Django Reinhardt, his other major musical influences are Bach, Kovacs Andor, Roby Lakatos and Angelo Debarre. He has performed with artists such as David Grisman, Paulus Schaefer ,Tim Kliphuis, Gonzalo Bergara, Ludovic Beier, Velvet Caravan, Rhythm Future Quartet, Hot Club of San Francisco and more, and has played at the Savannah Musci Festival, Los Angeles Django Reinhardt Festival, Nor-Cal Jazz Fest, Djangofest Northwest and The New York Hot Jazz Festival. He has recorded two albums under his own name, and performed on several other albums. Jimmy's original song “Insomnia” was a finalist in the John Lennon songwriting competition(in the jazz category). As Jimmy puts it, “We believe that Jazz, and the music of Django, is a piece of history worth preserving.”
In addition to performing, Jimmy teaches private students and has been on the faculty of the Django in June Festival in Massachusetts, and also is the artistic director of the Django Reinhardt Association. Jimmy also writes for “Gypsy Jazz Secrets Magazine”. He has been featured in Relix magazine and Acoustic Guitar magazine.