{"id":5990,"date":"2026-02-05T23:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/?p=5990"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:20:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:20:27","slug":"muriel-grossmann-plays-the-music-of-mccoy-tyner-and-the-grateful-dead-write-up-by-reed-jackson-for-aquarium-drunkard-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/?p=5990","title":{"rendered":"Muriel Grossmann \u2014 Plays the Music of McCoy Tyner and the Grateful Dead \u2014 Write-up by Reed Jackson for Aquarium Drunkard, US<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Muri\u00adel Gross\u00admann :: Plays the Music of McCoy Tyner and the Gra\u00adteful Dead<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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by Reed Jack\u00adson for Aqua\u00adri\u00adum Drunkard<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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          After Bob Weir\u2019s death on Jan. 10, the tri\u00adbu\u00adtes came pou\u00adring in. One of the most unu\u00adsu\u00adal came a few weeks befo\u00adre, at the very tail end of the old year, with Muri\u00adel Grossmann\u2019s dou\u00adble album (one song per side, known around the\u00adse parts as \u201cthe devil\u2019s dou\u00adble album\u201d) Plays the Music of McCoy Tyner <\/span>and the Gra\u00adteful Dead. On it, the Aus\u00adtri\u00adan saxo\u00adpho\u00adnist, working with a trio (long\u00adtime gui\u00adta\u00adrist Rado\u00admir Milo\u00adj\u00adko\u00advic, orga\u00adnist Abel Boquera and drum\u00admer Uros Sta\u00admen\u00adko\u00advic, the lat\u00adter two of whom appeared on Grossmann\u2019s 2023 Third Man debut Devo\u00adti\u00adon), explo\u00adres two tracks each by the renow\u00adned jazz pia\u00adnist and the pio\u00adnee\u00adring jam band. The Dead cuts \u2013 \u201cThe Music Never Stop\u00adped\u201d and \u201cThe Other One\u201d \u2014 were both writ\u00adten by Weir.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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       On the sur\u00adface, the work of the per\u00adcus\u00adsive, har\u00admo\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly inten\u00adse Tyner and the cir\u00adcum\u00ads\u00adpect rhyth\u00admic style of Weir would seem to share litt\u00adle in com\u00admon. And may\u00adbe below the sur\u00adface, as well. Tyner\u2019s work is gal\u00adva\u00adnic and aggres\u00adsi\u00adve, as if he were try\u00ading to make up for the absence of John Col\u00adtra\u00adne, as a mem\u00adber of who\u00adse band he hel\u00adped rede\u00adfi\u00adne mid\u00adcen\u00adtu\u00adry jazz. Both \u201cWalk Spi\u00adrit, Talk Spi\u00adrit\u201d and \u201cCon\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adti\u00adon\u201d come from Tyner\u2019s post-Tra\u00adne years, when he was figu\u00adring out his own role as a lea\u00adder. With the Dead tracks of cour\u00adse, Weir was working within the con\u00adfi\u00adnes of his pri\u00adma\u00adry band, very much in the shadow of Jer\u00adry Gar\u00adcia. Though Weir had a knack for a hard-char\u00adging cho\u00adrus (not Jerry\u2019s bai\u00adli\u00adwick, to say the least), Weir had to wri\u00adte with Gar\u00adcia in mind, lea\u00adving space for his out\u00adsi\u00adzed con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adti\u00adons. Tyner had to make exact\u00adly zero con\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adons, asi\u00adde from wrest\u00adling with Coltrane\u2019s ghost. That was pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly enough, come to think of it.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

           So, what con\u00adnec\u00adtions can we dis\u00adcern in the work of the\u00adse two musi\u00adci\u00adans? The time peri\u00adod, for one: \u201cCon\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adti\u00adon\u201d and \u201cThe Other One\u201d were writ\u00adten in the late 1960s, while \u201cWalk Spi\u00adrit, Talk Spi\u00adrit\u201d and \u201cThe Music Never Stop\u00adped\u201d hail from the \u201870s. \u201cWalk Spi\u00adrit, Talk Spi\u00adrit,\u201d like the Dead cuts, is a mas\u00adsi\u00adve jam \u2013 in its first appearance on Tyner\u2019s live Enligh\u00adten\u00adment (1973), it lasts a stag\u00adge\u00adring 24 minu\u00adtes. (Grossmann\u2019s ver\u00adsi\u00adon clocks in at a rela\u00adtively tidy 14:29.) \u201cCon\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adti\u00adon\u201d in its stu\u00addio form on Tyner\u2019s 1967 The Real McCoy, is a com\u00adpact nine minu\u00adtes; Gross\u00admann stret\u00adches it out by five. In all the\u00adse tracks, Gross\u00admann seems to <\/span>loca\u00adte a com\u00admon the\u00adme of kine\u00adtic poten\u00adti\u00adal and fle\u00adxi\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty \u2013 the ways in which a song can offer a wealth of oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties for spon\u00adta\u00adneous inter\u00adac\u00adtion, com\u00adplex evo\u00adlu\u00adti\u00adon and sud\u00adden swer\u00adves into undis\u00adco\u00adver\u00aded coun\u00adtry. Weir and Tyner may have used dif\u00adfe\u00adrent tools and fol\u00adlo\u00adwed dif\u00adfe\u00adrent methods, but they both wan\u00adted to crack open com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adons and see what they were made of, and figu\u00adre out how they could be remade.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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           Grossmann\u2019s tre\u00adat\u00adment of Tyner is com\u00adpli\u00adca\u00adted by the lack of Tyner\u2019s instru\u00adment, the pia\u00adno. Boquera\u2019s zes\u00adty organ adds tro\u00adpi\u00adcal colors to the mix, but its boun\u00adcy zephyrs can\u2019t replace Tyner\u2019s roi\u00adling gale. Gross\u00admann most\u00adly sticks to Azar Lawrence\u2019s sax line, duet\u00adting with Milojkovic\u2019s gui\u00adtar in a way that allows her more space than Tyner gave to Law\u00adrence. Gross\u00admann has a big, round tone, and she uses it to full advan\u00adta\u00adge here, play\u00ading robust, jui\u00adcy-fruit notes in the man\u00adner of mid-70s Son\u00adny Roll\u00adins, with may\u00adbe a smid\u00adgen of David Sanborn\u2019s tart feli\u00adci\u00adty thrown in. There\u2019s not a lot in the way of Tyner\u2019s glit\u00adte\u00adring dis\u00adso\u00adnan\u00adce, but the band does cap\u00adtu\u00adre his amiable abandon.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

       \u201cCon\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adti\u00adon\u201d has a blue\u00adsier feel, alig\u00adning it with the Dead right away. Gross\u00admann enlar\u00adges upon this giving Milo\u00adj\u00adko\u00advic ple\u00adnty of room to solo, which most\u00adly accounts for the track\u2019s extra five minu\u00adtes of length. Milo\u00adj\u00adko\u00advic incisi\u00adve\u00adly inter\u00adprets Tyner\u2019s rapid right-hand trills, but a gui\u00adtar lacks a piano\u2019s weight, and it refracts Tyner\u2019s dazz\u00adling den\u00adsi\u00adty into a wig\u00adglier wave\u00adlength. Gross\u00admann again spends a lot of time due\u00adting with the gui\u00adtar, just as Joe Hen\u00adder\u00adson chops it up with Tyner on the 1967 stu\u00addio track, and, if her ver\u00adsi\u00adon lacks the chi\u00adming sharp\u00adness of the ori\u00adgi\u00adnal (per\u00adhaps having more in com\u00admon with the gent\u00adler ren\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon on 2003\u2019s Land of Giants, fea\u00adturing vibra\u00adpho\u00adne king Bob\u00adby Hut\u00adcher\u00adson on the front line), it mana\u00adges to bring out the rich inte\u00adrio\u00adri\u00adty of Tyner\u2019s pie\u00adce. And, espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly in the gui\u00adtar-hea\u00advy lat\u00adter half, it starts to sound a lot like Bob\u00adby Weir.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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         Grossmann\u2019s adapt\u00ada\u00adti\u00adon of the Dead maps more easi\u00adly onto the source mate\u00adri\u00adal due to the pre\u00adsence of Milojkovic\u2019s gui\u00adtar. The Ser\u00adbi\u00adan has uncan\u00adny ear for the way the Dead\u2019s inten\u00adse\u00adly Ame\u00adri\u00adcan music gli\u00addes and twangs, and he can set up a rol\u00adling sim\u00admer with the best locked-in jam\u00admer. Check out how, after it dis\u00adsol\u00adves into abs\u00adtrac\u00adtion about four minu\u00adtes in, Milo\u00adj\u00adko\u00advic resur\u00adrects \u201cThe Other One\u201d into a frac\u00adtal burb\u00adle. Gross\u00admann, for her part, nails the vocal lines, sound\u00ading more stead\u00adfast\u00adly tonal and lim\u00adber than the noto\u00adrious\u00adly wave\u00adring Weir. And when she departs from the main melo\u00addy, she achie\u00adves a kind of soulful rigor that sug\u00adgests Gar\u00adcia at his year\u00adning best wit\u00adhout imi\u00adta\u00adting him. It\u2019s fun to think about which live ver\u00adsi\u00adons of the\u00adse tracks Gross\u00admann and crew could be dra\u00adwing from \u2013 I\u2019d say their \u201cOther One\u201d has the pan\u00ado\u00adr\u00adamic gus\u00adto of the Donna\/Keith years, while \u201cThe Music Never Stop\u00adped\u201d bears the fun\u00adky ver\u00adve of the Brent Myd\u00adland years (like \u201cCon\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adti\u00adon\u201d it gets expan\u00added by about five or so minu\u00adtes). But other heads with dif\u00adfe\u00adrent ears will sure\u00adly have their own opinions.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

         Muri\u00adel Grossmann\u2019s tri\u00adbu\u00adte to the music of two very dif\u00adfe\u00adrent Ame\u00adri\u00adcan visio\u00adna\u00adries may not make an over\u00adwhel\u00adming case for shared ground, but it none\u00adthel\u00adess finds a lot of intri\u00adguing links. If not\u00adhing else, Tyner and Weir devo\u00adted their lives to a com\u00admon pur\u00adpo\u00adse: kee\u00adping the music of their decea\u00adsed Other Ones ali\u00adve wit\u00adhout losing them\u00adsel\u00adves in the pro\u00adcess. Now that they have depar\u00adted into myth them\u00adsel\u00adves (Tyner died in 2020), they lea\u00adve behind count\u00adless ways to remem\u00adber \u2013 and more important\u00adly, reinvent \u2013 their lega\u00adci\u00ades. | r jackson<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Muri\u00adel Gross\u00admann :: Plays the Music of McCoy Tyner and the Gra\u00adteful Dead   by Reed Jack\u00adson for Aqua\u00adri\u00adum Drun\u00adkard           After Bob Weir\u2019s death on Jan. 10, the tri\u00adbu\u00adtes came pou\u00adring in. One of the most unu\u00adsu\u00adal came a few weeks befo\u00adre, at the very tail end of the old year, \u2026 Muri\u00adel Gross\u00admann \u2014 Plays the Music of McCoy Tyner and the Gra\u00adteful Dead \u2014 Wri\u00adte-up by Reed Jack\u00adson for Aqua\u00adri\u00adum Drun\u00adkard, US<\/span><\/span> weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5990"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5993,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990\/revisions\/5993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}