ALBUM NOTES
When the vital energies work their way through a group of musicians, the psychological experience is of inner joy that becomes greater then the sum of the individually invested parts. The images are not ordered to present a well-known picture of a familiar subject. What occur in this music are combinations of contrasting rising and falling light and sound substances, which dart in completely unexpected directions. The images will whirl in spiral through an unlimited space without ever seeming to be hampered by any arbitrary limits. Music of the moment makes the whole, or as Muriel Grossmann puts it: “We were playing with a concept, creating organic unity.” The complete musicianship, evidenced by the quartet members on this record, can be set down to the fact that each member is aware not only of their own personal needs, but are conscious of being part of a living productive organism, which not only fulfills the needs of its members but provides endless pleasure and stimulation for the listener.
Austrian Alto and Soprano saxophonist and composer Muriel Grossmann is widening her musical commitment and bold explorations, creating urgent and elevating music. With singular imagination Muriel Grossmann is a player and composer with a blend of traditional and visionary, absolutely explosive throughout; music here is the case in point. The Creation of ever evolving shapes moving in multidirectional ways; open structures, giving the feeling that the process of making music is an end in itself and not just the means of obtaining a perfectly finished product. In the last years Muriel Grossmann has been performing and recording with such artists as Wolfgang Reisinger, Christian Lillinger, Johannes Fink and leading her own projects. She was just recently selected for best jazz record of the year in the category “millor nova proposta 2009” in Jazz Magazine Jaç (no. 30, Feb/March 2010) for Cd Quartet (Dreamlandrecords, DR 03 CD).
“The suite Birth of the Mystery is about elaborating the idea of a joyful birth in a musical way. Creation is coming through us but not from us. There are six important states of mind. Strength is about will power. Trust is about, all that comes to you is meant for you, so trust and your actions will be good. Breathing is about the essential part of being conscious as the breath flows, to use the power of the now. Patience is about the peacefulness in non-action. Opening, as in everyday life, is about being open to give and to receive compassion and love; and Slide is about letting the things fall right into your hands to Welcome it, so the joy can ease you.”
The Quartet is composed of Radomir Milojkovic on guitar, who both as accompanist and soloist, has sophisticated sensibility and high-level of consistency; with the drums of Marko Jelaca, an orchestral continuum of rhythmic irregularities that nevertheless mark the most rigorous metric, and bassist David Marroquin, who with same sense of freedom always brings a wide range of rhythms and sounds. This music is universal; they compose quartet to the power of four, as well as a quartet four times unique.
Each composition is a study in itself, the elaboration of the musical concepts through harmony, melody and rhythm. “I was mostly writing in the nighttime, while everybody was asleep. The stillness and peace of the night were guiding me”. David Farrow
ALBUM CRITIC
An early gem from saxophonist Muriel Grossmann – already at the sort of apex that would make her one of the key spiritual jazz players in the decade to come – creating the sort of music that’s made her one of our favorite contemporary jazz musicians here at Dusty Groove! The vibe here is slightly different than some of Grossmann’s more recent material – maybe a bit more open and less modal, but still with this way of building up a tune in these bold blocks of sound! Muriel blows alto sax throughout – and as on many of her other great recordings, guitarist Radomir Milojkovic is a key part of the sound here – creating all these tones and colors in a piano-less group that also features David Marroquin on bass and Marko Jelaca on drums. The album works as one long suite of tracks, with seven passages – including the segments “Strength”, “Trust”, “Breathing”, “Patience”, “Opening”, “Slide”, and “Welcome”. © 1996–2023, Dusty Groove, Inc.
(Limited to just 300 copies!)