Steve Grossman was one of the greatest saxophonists and was a uniquely gifted improvisor. He played solos that always clearly followed the song's structure and chords so incredibly well, and his time, his swing, technique, sound, and his wealth of musical ideas were all first rate. Steve was equally comfortable in traditional musical environments as well as those situations which were much freer and looser. The ties to the great masters and innovators such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane is clear, yet his vocabulary and his musical statements are very much his own, along with the many clever quotations of songs from the great American songbook of standards and jazz tunes alike. Steve also truly mastered one of the most difficult aspects of the saxophone which John Coltrane had developed to an astounding degree which is the use and incorporation of harmonics and overtones. There have been a few great saxophonists who made use of these musical devices after Coltrane but I doubt anyone ever took it as far as Steve did and he made it sound so easy to do. It is anything but easy.
his generation is still playing free but he opted for sonny rollins and tonality. good for him. free is overrated to me . . . free of what-western harmony and tonality? "out" i understand but not free (or rather i don't care for it). dave liebman has some interesting annecdotes about this guy.
Steve Grossman was a great improvisor, a master of Hard/Post Bop. He and his playing will be missed.
Steve Grossman was one of the greatest saxophonists and was a uniquely gifted improvisor. He played solos that always clearly followed the song's structure and chords so incredibly well, and his time, his swing, technique, sound, and his wealth of musical ideas were all first rate. Steve was equally comfortable in traditional musical environments as well as those situations which were much freer and looser. The ties to the great masters and innovators such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane is clear, yet his vocabulary and his musical statements are very much his own, along with the many clever quotations of songs from the great American songbook of standards and jazz tunes alike. Steve also truly mastered one of the most difficult aspects of the saxophone which John Coltrane had developed to an astounding degree which is the use and incorporation of harmonics and overtones. There have been a few great saxophonists who made use of these musical devices after Coltrane but I doubt anyone ever took it as far as Steve did and he made it sound so easy to do. It is anything but easy.
Every Grossman solo is truly a work of art that is uniquely Steve. I only need one or two notes and it's clearly Grossman
When I knew Steve it was clear that there was never a tune that anyone could call that Steve did not thoroughly know.
Steve Grossman! Great saxman! R.I P
fuck this stuff is still so cool after all these years
Hello @reigenlive - I was wondering if you happen to have the untrimmed footage from this concert and would be willing to share it?
thats all we have...
Always worth hearing, but not like his younger self in 1970's and '80's
his generation is still playing free but he opted for sonny rollins and tonality. good for him. free is overrated to me . . . free of what-western harmony and tonality? "out" i understand but not free (or rather i don't care for it). dave liebman has some interesting annecdotes about this guy.
I completely agree. IMO that free thing was a bad cul de sac in jazz history-a mistake.
Where can I find these anecdotes? I’m always looking for new stories about these cool guys
@@qwertyuiop32935 this is one of my favorite liebman vids, his little masterclass in paris-
czcams.com/video/w-zm1KvLF1E/video.htmlsi=9CbN5uMcmLtbL0cU
I can't lie..... he has an ugly sound but AWESOME ideas