Steve Grossman - ATT: Mark Stryker

[AllenLowe]

I know Grossman is a complicated figure, and the conventional wisdom, based, AFAIK, on recordings, is that after his early years he took up with the style of Sonny Rollins and lost his way. Mark in particular has written well about Grossman's stylistic wanderings, which jibed with what I had heard of his playing - and then - and then - I found a series of live footage on Youtube of him playing "Live on Tokyo" and I would venture to say that now, at least to me, all bets are off. Yes, he has backed off a lot from his Coltrane-ish attitude, and assumed more of a post-bop thing, but on these videos he has gathered it all together and turned it into some of the most comprehensively inventive sorta-bebop playing I have ever heard - but it's really much more. His sound, technique, harmonic grasp, makes these performances some of the best saxophone playing extant after, I would say, 1980 - gone is any real hint of Sonny Rollins mimicking, though of course that influence is still there. Listen to this, just one of several things floating around Youtube from this incredible performance:

 

 

 

where's that guy who said I never like anything? Out torturing flies?

[sgcim]

A friend of mine who played in the sax section with SG in the Elmont, LI band said that he was always first and foremost a great bop player. He said the Coltrane thing was just a short detour. SG used to freak people out by transcribing whole solos with only one listen!

[Gheorghe]

Fantastic. Such energy, such great playing mood. 
I saw Steve Grossman live also, and was very very much impressed. 

 

[Mark Stryker]

On 12/8/2023 at 8:05 PM, AllenLowe said:

I know Grossman is a complicated figure, and the conventional wisdom, based, AFAIK, on recordings, is that after his early years he took up with the style of Sonny Rollins and lost his way. Mark in particular has written well about Grossman's stylistic wanderings, which jibed with what I had heard of his playing - and then - and then - I found a series of live footage on Youtube of him playing "Live on Tokyo" and I would venture to say that now, at least to me, all bets are off. Yes, he has backed off a lot from his Coltrane-ish attitude, and assumed more of a post-bop thing, but on these videos he has gathered it all together and turned it into some of the most comprehensively inventive sorta-bebop playing I have ever heard - but it's really much more. His sound, technique, harmonic grasp, makes these performances some of the best saxophone playing extant after, I would say, 1980 - gone is any real hint of Sonny Rollins mimicking, though of course that influence is still there. Listen to this, just one of several things floating around Youtube from this incredible performance:

 

 

 

where's that guy who said I never like anything? Out torturing flies?

Sorry the delay in responding. I was locked out of the site for a while. This is great stuff. I've heard some other Grossman from around this same period --1986 -- that is fantastic and related to his playing on "Love Is The Thing" from the same period with Walton, Williams, Higgins --easily Grossman's best post-1980 record. There was a moment when he seemed to be synthesizing his earlier "Trane" inspiration with his later "Rollins" inspiration and reach a whole new level. I think this was relatively short lived but when he was on, it was FANTASTIC. I need to spend more time with the live tapes from the 1980s, 90s and beyond to continue to hone my thoughts -- not necessarily to overall my entire thesis but to account for the greatness that never entirely left him.

[clifford_thornton]

There is a record called Katonah from 1986 on DIW that I think offers some of the strongest Grossman I've ever heard. It is definitely in the vein of the performance in this video.

[felser]

42 minutes ago, clifford_thornton said:

There is a record called Katonah from 1986 on DIW that I think offers some of the strongest Grossman I've ever heard.

+1.  I got a used copy of it in the past six months and really liked it.

[Gheorghe]

15 hours ago, Mark Stryker said:

 

his playing on "Love Is The Thing" from the same period with Walton, Williams, Higgins --easily Grossman's best post-1980 record.

 

Oh, I love that ballad, I know it from the famous Billy Eckstine recording from "Mr.B and the Band" and always wanted to perform it. Such a wonderful ballad, but not many horn players have it "ad hoc" in their repertory and since I usually have to play what is told to me just before the gig starts, there won´t be so many occasions for performing it. 

And that "rhythm section" might be the best you can imagine. Would be nice to hear it. What album is it ? 

[Mark Stryker]

4 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

Oh, I love that ballad, I know it from the famous Billy Eckstine recording from "Mr.B and the Band" and always wanted to perform it. Such a wonderful ballad, but not many horn players have it "ad hoc" in their repertory and since I usually have to play what is told to me just before the gig starts, there won´t be so many occasions for performing it. 

And that "rhythm section" might be the best you can imagine. Would be nice to hear it. What album is it ? 

The LP was titled "Love Is The Thing" (Red Records) but, ironically, that song wasn't included. This is my favorite track.  

 

[clifford_thornton]

This album is really good and I've never had it. Time to rectify.

[JSngry]

Consult any collegiate tenor player of a certain time/place and get the Live at Brown's tapes. 

[AllenLowe]

weird thing about so much of Grossman's later output is how badly a lot of it is recorded. Off-mic, too much reverb, very little presence. Maybe his problem was with engineers. That's driven me to despair more than once.

[jlhoots]

On 12/18/2023 at 9:15 AM, clifford_thornton said:

There is a record called Katonah from 1986 on DIW that I think offers some of the strongest Grossman I've ever heard. It is definitely in the vein of the performance in this video.

Ordered a copy.

[Gheorghe]

Some great Steve Grossman is on Miles Davis´ last album, that kind of Reunion with old friends in Paris, where they even play some stuff like "Dig", "Out of Blue" and so on. There is an acoustic sextet of Miles, Jackie McLean, Steve Grossman, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Al Foster.....