{"id":6067,"date":"2026-08-02T16:19:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T14:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/?p=6067"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:39:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T14:39:47","slug":"album-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/?p=6067","title":{"rendered":"About this Album \u2014 MG<\/span> and The Echoes of Swing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Liner notes by Ted Shapiro<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The world knows Muri\u00adel Gross\u00admann as a band\u00adlea\u00adder, saxo\u00adpho\u00adnist and com\u00adpo\u00adser of high\u00adly indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adal and ori\u00adgi\u00adnal music. Some would say she hel\u00adped shape the world\u00adwi\u00adde revi\u00adval of spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal jazz, a move\u00adment stron\u00adgly reflec\u00adted in her semi\u00adnal 2018 release Gol\u00adden Rule. The world knows albums such as Uni\u00adver\u00adsal Code, Uni\u00adon and Quiet Earth, or her powerful per\u00adfor\u00adman\u00adces across the glo\u00adbe with her long-stan\u00adding quar\u00adtet fea\u00adturing Rado\u00admir Milo\u00adj\u00adko\u00advic on gui\u00adtar, Abel Boquera on Ham\u00admond B3<\/span> organ and Uros Sta\u00admen\u00adko\u00advic on drums.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That is one side of the story.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But here in Ibi\u00adza, whe\u00adre Gross\u00admann has lived and work\u00aded for over two deca\u00addes, ano\u00adther side of the artist reve\u00adals its\u00adelf. Locals know her not only as an inter\u00adna\u00adtio\u00adnal\u00adly tou\u00adring artist but as a dedi\u00adca\u00adted working musi\u00adci\u00adan, someone who returns every sum\u00admer to play night after night in restau\u00adrants, clubs, hotels and bars. For more than twen\u00adty years she has main\u00adtai\u00adned this remar\u00adkab\u00adle rou\u00adti\u00adne, per\u00adforming almost dai\u00adly for months at a time, refi\u00adning her craft in front of live audi\u00aden\u00adces in the oldest and most honest way jazz has always evol\u00adved: through performance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If the con\u00adcert stage shows the visio\u00adna\u00adry com\u00adpo\u00adser, the\u00adse nights reve\u00adal the craftsman.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Away from the recor\u00adding stu\u00addio and inter\u00adna\u00adtio\u00adnal tours, Gross\u00admann immer\u00adses hers\u00adelf in the lan\u00adguage of the tra\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon \u2014 the tim\u00ade\u00adl\u00adess voca\u00adbu\u00adla\u00adry of swing, blues and ear\u00adly modern jazz. Dra\u00adwing inspi\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon from mas\u00adters such as Les\u00adter Young, Illi\u00adnois Jac\u00adquet, Ben Webs\u00adter and Lou Donald\u00adson, she con\u00adti\u00adnues the lifel\u00adong jazz tra\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon of lear\u00adning by play\u00ading, deve\u00adlo\u00adping her sound through con\u00adstant performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

This work ine\u00advi\u00adta\u00adb\u00adly leads back to the reper\u00adtoire that shaped the music: the songs of the 1930s, 40s and 50s \u2014 what many con\u00adsider the gol\u00adden age of jazz.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pro\u00adject pre\u00adsen\u00adted here, The Echo\u00ades of Swing, reflects that dedi\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon. In this par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar set the music of the 30s is revi\u00adsi\u00adted \u2014 swing music, the music of Les\u00adter Young, Count Basie and other pro\u00admi\u00adnent jazz figu\u00adres of that era. The group fea\u00adtures Eli\u00adas Mei\u00adri on pia\u00adno, Rado\u00admir Milo\u00adj\u00adko\u00advic on gui\u00adtar, Cuni Man\u00adtil\u00adla on bass and Este\u00adve Pi on drums.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eli\u00adas Mei\u00adri is a long\u00adtime fri\u00adend from Muriel\u2019s Vien\u00adna years in the 1990s, whe\u00adre their musi\u00adcal paths first crossed. Mei\u00adri is a high\u00adly sophisti\u00adca\u00adted pia\u00adnist who spent seve\u00adral years in New York per\u00adforming with jazz gre\u00adats such as Diz\u00adzy Gil\u00adle\u00adspie, Dave Lieb\u00adman and Ste\u00adve Gross\u00adman befo\u00adre sett\u00adling in Vien\u00adna in 1988. When the two musi\u00adci\u00adans recon\u00adnec\u00adted years later, their shared love for the swing tra\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon \u2014 and par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly the lega\u00adcy of Oscar Peter\u00adson \u2014 natu\u00adral\u00adly led them back to the pia\u00adno bench and into the music. From the\u00adse encoun\u00adters the idea emer\u00adged to docu\u00adment this side of Grossmann\u2019s musi\u00adcal world.<\/span><\/p>\n

An important role in the deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adment of this reper\u00adtoire was play\u00aded by the legen\u00adda\u00adry hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty entre\u00adpre\u00adneur and busi\u00adness lea\u00adder Giu\u00adsep\u00adpe Cipria\u00adni, who, as someone aptly said, gave a who\u00adle new mea\u00adning to the word style. Per\u00adforming in his venues around the world gave the group ear\u00adly oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties to deve\u00adlop and refi\u00adne this music in front of dis\u00adcer\u00adning inter\u00adna\u00adtio\u00adnal audi\u00aden\u00adces. In the\u00adse ele\u00adgant envi\u00adron\u00adments, jazz once again ful\u00adfil\u00adled one of its his\u00adto\u00adric roles: music that enhan\u00adces atmo\u00adsphe\u00adre and ele\u00adva\u00adtes expe\u00adri\u00adence \u2014 whe\u00adre beau\u00adtiful melo\u00addies meet joyful, some\u00adti\u00admes foot-tap\u00adping per\u00adfor\u00adman\u00adces and human connection.<\/span><\/p>\n

The record opens with the up-tem\u00adpo rhythm chan\u00adges titled Tal\u00adly Ho, Mr. Basie, a 1962 Count Basie num\u00adber. Muri\u00adel takes the first solo and right away we know that we are in the world of Les\u00adter Young. Gross\u00admann solos with ease and in the estab\u00adlished for\u00admat of that par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar style, pay\u00ading homage and respect to the aes\u00adthe\u00adtics of the jazz style of the 30s, par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly that of the gre\u00adat Les\u00adter Young. In fact all inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons are deep\u00adly roo\u00adted insi\u00adde tho\u00adse aes\u00adthe\u00adtics. Fly\u00ading Home being the pri\u00adma\u00adry exam\u00adp\u00adle, oders a brief, focu\u00adsed and sty\u00adli\u00adsti\u00adcal\u00adly truthful per\u00adfor\u00admance on gui\u00adtar, tenor saxo\u00adpho\u00adne and piano.<\/span><\/p>\n

The beau\u00adtiful 1928 Broad\u00adway com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adon I Can\u2019t Give You Any\u00adthing But Love, Baby is ano\u00adther good exam\u00adp\u00adle of a gre\u00adat swin\u00adging tune being adapt\u00aded for a smal\u00adler band whe\u00adre the rhythm sec\u00adtion and espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly the gui\u00adtar play that defi\u00adning role of brin\u00adging the who\u00adle music into one swin\u00adging pul\u00adse. With the emer\u00adgence of bebop by the mid-40s the gui\u00adtar lost its role as a mem\u00adber of the rhythm sec\u00adtion, but in swing music a band wit\u00adhout rhythm gui\u00adtar was not pos\u00adsi\u00adble. The prime expo\u00adnent of swing rhythm gui\u00adtar was jazz gre\u00adat Fred\u00addie Green, who defi\u00adned the role of gui\u00adtar in the Count Basie Orches\u00adtra and in jazz as a who\u00adle, making it an inse\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adble part of the music. You may not hear it loud\u00adly, but if you take it away you will know that some\u00adthing is miss\u00ading \u2014 tho\u00adse pul\u00adsa\u00adting swin\u00adging quar\u00adter notes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Topsy is ano\u00adther favou\u00adri\u00adte swin\u00adger from that era, com\u00adpo\u00adsed by Eddie Dur\u00adham, one of the grea\u00adtest com\u00adpo\u00adsers, arran\u00adgers, trom\u00adbo\u00adnists and gui\u00adta\u00adrists, and also a distin\u00adgu\u00adis\u00adhed mem\u00adber of the ear\u00adly Count Basie band. Here on this recor\u00adding the song is taken at a rela\u00adxed medi\u00adum tem\u00adpo allo\u00adwing the soloists to stretch and tell the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Side B opens with It\u2019s Sand, Man, with 8 bars of intro\u00adduc\u00adtion by drum\u00admer Este\u00adve Pi, who\u00adse bio\u00adgra\u00adphy reads like a who-is-who of both natio\u00adnal and inter\u00adna\u00adtio\u00adnal names that he has per\u00adfor\u00admed and recor\u00added with. As every in-demand side\u00adman, Este\u00adve Pi is not only a remar\u00adkab\u00adle accom\u00adpa\u00adnist but also a gre\u00adat soloist when the situa\u00adti\u00adon calls for it, like here in this com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adon whe\u00adre he plays an excel\u00adlent 32-bar solo.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 1942 com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adon Chel\u00adsea Bridge by Bil\u00adly Stray\u00adhorn is often regard\u00aded as one of the most poignant com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adons in jazz. This ren\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon opens with a beau\u00adtiful gui\u00adtar intro, after which lea\u00adder Muri\u00adel Gross\u00admann plays the melo\u00addy whe\u00adre she dis\u00adplays all the beau\u00adty of her tone and the intri\u00adca\u00adci\u00ades of this gre\u00adat song.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jive at Five is a les\u00adser-known Count Basie late-30s gem com\u00adpo\u00adsed by Har\u00adry \u201cSweets\u201d Edi\u00adson, whe\u00adre we can hear bas\u00adsist Cuni Man\u00adtil\u00adla crea\u00adting bass lines that are both ima\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adti\u00adve and inspi\u00adring for the rhythm sec\u00adtion as well as for the soloists.<\/span><\/p>\n

The com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adon that clo\u00adses the record is the legen\u00adda\u00adry Les\u00adter Young tune Les\u00adter Leaps In, taken here as an up-tem\u00adpo work\u00adout whe\u00adre we find the group in full-fled\u00adged flight.<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes this recor\u00adding par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly com\u00adpel\u00adling is its hones\u00adty. The music that this gre\u00adat quin\u00adtet per\u00adforms doesn\u2019t demand atten\u00adti\u00adon \u2014 it draws the lis\u00adte\u00adner in through its sheer beau\u00adty, feel-good mood and its not-impo\u00adsing nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

For lis\u00adten\u00aders fami\u00adli\u00adar with Muri\u00adel Grossmann\u2019s more expan\u00adsi\u00adve spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal jazz recor\u00addings, this album reve\u00adals ano\u00adther essen\u00adti\u00adal pie\u00adce of the artis\u00adtic pic\u00adtu\u00adre: the working musi\u00adci\u00adan, the tra\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon bea\u00adrer, the play\u00ader who under\u00adstands that inno\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon grows stron\u00adgest from deep roots.<\/span>
\nThis recor\u00adding oders not a depar\u00adtu\u00adre, but a com\u00adple\u00adment \u2014 ano\u00adther chap\u00adter in a sto\u00adry still unfolding.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u21d0<\/span><\/a> back to the shop page<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liner notes by Ted Sha\u00adpi\u00adro The world knows Muri\u00adel Gross\u00admann as a band\u00adlea\u00adder, saxo\u00adpho\u00adnist and com\u00adpo\u00adser of high\u00adly indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adal and ori\u00adgi\u00adnal music. Some would say she hel\u00adped shape the world\u00adwi\u00adde revi\u00adval of spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal jazz, a move\u00adment stron\u00adgly reflec\u00adted in her semi\u00adnal 2018 release Gol\u00adden Rule. The world knows albums such as Uni\u00adver\u00adsal Code, Uni\u00adon and \u2026 About this Album \u2014 MG<\/span> and The Echo\u00ades of Swing<\/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-6067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6067","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=6067"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6075,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6067\/revisions\/6075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murielgrossmann.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}