Reverence (RR GEMS Records)
Muriel Grossmann
Released December 2019
Allmusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2019
YouTube:
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About:
The sources of jazz are to be found in Africa, as any encyclopedia of music will tell you. The polyrhythms, syncopation and improvisation that are integral to jazz all stem from the musical traditions of Africa. These distinct aspects of African music travelled to the Americas with the slave-trade and, intersecting in New Orleans with European instrumentation and arrangement, created the foundations of a new sound. Through the twentieth century Africa continued its influence, as free jazz innovators including Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry travelled there in search of the roots of their art form, while at the same time African musicians such as Abdullah Ibrahim and Fela Kuti brought their music to America and Europe.
The island of Ibiza lies in the Mediterranean between Europe and Africa and has been a meeting place of peoples, cultures, languages and music for ages. Muriel Grossmann, who was born in Paris and grew up in Austria, moved to Ibiza in 2004 and there she began to record some of the most exciting and innovative jazz of the new millennium. It is no surprise that with her latest album she turns to the wellspring of Africa, offering eight compositions, exploring the essence of polyrhythm in a personal and committed way. As Grossmann says, ‘What jazz and African music have in common and what makes it so unique is that at its very core, as the strongest part of its foundation, each musician is dealing with a particular rhythm that contributes to the whole, therefore generating multidirectional rhythms also known as polyrhythms’. This album is a gesture of acknowledgement, thanksgiving and reverence for the musical traditions that Africa has given jazz.
‘Reverence’ sees the same quartet that performed on Grossmann’s previous three releases transform into a quintet. On this album, Grossmann plays alto, soprano and tenor saxophones, Radomir Milojkovic is on guitars, Gina Schwarz on bass, Uros Stamenkovic on drums, and they are joined by Llorenç Barceló on Hammond. The colours and textures of the Hammond B3 organ are a perfect addition to the sounds of this already tightly aligned group, providing everything from cosmic swirls and chirped percussion to brilliant solos of exploration.
Africa is referenced in multiple ways thorough the compositions. The first track is titled ‘Okan Ti Aye’, a Yoruba phrase that means ‘Heart of the World’ and from its opening sounds we can hear an urge for celebrating African music from its ancient percussion traditions to more recent traces of Fela Kuti and Afro Pop. The number culminates in a blazing solo by Grossmann on tenor that sets a tone of celebration for the entire album.
This same high energy approach appears again on ‘Chase’. At the foundation of this composition is a powerful, moving, danceable bass line, while the rhythms created on the organ and guitar evoke the dual guitar play that was a trademark of James Brown’s sound. The drum work ranges from tight to more flexible grooves, while Grossmann on alto provides deep, singing melodies, simple and direct, as if the saxophone too is a part of the rhythm section. Grossmann explains: ‘Count Basie once said about his band that he wanted it sounding like one big drum. That’s what I aimed for with my album “Reverence”’.
Other compositions are reflective and pensive. ‘Union’, for example, is a nine-minute meditation by Grossmann on soprano saxophone, working through variations on a simple, beautiful melody while Schwarz grooves steadily on the bass, Barceló makes his Hammond burble, and Stamenkovic summons a shimmering, endless field of cymbal-tones. And ‘Sundown’ has Grossmann on tenor again, in slow, weaving interplay with Hammond b3 and Celtic harp to produce a feeling of deep repose, truly a masterpiece.
‘Water Bowl’ refers to the daily routine of women and children in many parts of Africa who walk long distances to fetch water for their families, and who sing while doing so. Grossmann’s alto moves through one melodic idea after another, as if singing the mystic meaning of things, while Milojkovic’s solo reminds us of the blues as he plays soulful lines characteristic of the soul-jazz of Gant Green or Boogaloo Joe Jones. Barceló contributes beautifully on this number, with his rich treatment of the Hammond and its chameleonic possibilities of changing sound and colors.
‘Tribu’ opens with a sumptuous bass solo by Gina Schwarz that is melodic, rhythmic and deeply resonant; one can feel the wood in its sound, and it evokes the spirit of many African instruments. To my ears, Tribu and Union are unique compositions in Grossmann’s work, departing from the swinging grooves found in her records ‘Golden Rule’, ‘Momentum’ and ‘Natural Time’ and moving towards more RNB oriented grooves. The theme on ‘Tribu’, and that of the composition which follows, ‘Afrika Mahala’, are, for this listener at least, total earworms; they play on in the mind, unbidden, without warning, and without the aid of device or sound system. ‘Afrika Mahala’ is also notable for a fine guitar solo by Milojkovic who then hands over to an intense duo between Grossmann and Stamenkovic, evoking the spirit of those burning 60s saxophone and drum duos.
A chorus of African instruments introduces ‘Morning’, the final track, and leads into another irrepressible theme on alto, setting the mood for the day that comes, embracing the celebratory spirit, bringing listeners, as Grossmann puts it, into ‘a fulfilled state of being’.
As with several of Grossmann’s previous albums, a distinguishing trait is the use of drone-instrumentation. African instruments feature, including balafone, krakebs, kalimba, ngoni and dun duns, along with celtic harp, flute and slide guitar. The effects these create are subtle; they augment the group’s performance and their layers of sound are like the intricate weaving of single threads into patterned coloured cloth, both delicate and strong.
Make no mistake: the music you will experience on ‘Reverence’ is not African; it is deeply spiritual jazz from the edge of Europe that gives thanks to Africa for its knowledge, its wisdom, its beauty. And we now, in turn, give thanks for these beautiful sounds.
Michael Jacklin in conversation with Muriel Grossmann
Track Listing:
1. Okan Ti Aye (Muriel Grossmann) 09:58
2. Union (Muriel Grossmann) 09:22
3. Water Bowl (Muriel Grossmann) 09:43
4. Sundown (Muriel Grossmann) 09:02
5. Chase (Muriel Grossmann) 09:51
6. Tribu (Muriel Grossmann) 09:05
7. Afrika Mahala (Muriel Grossmann) 10:26
8. Morning (Muriel Grossmann) 11:37
Personnel:
Muriel Grossmann: saxophone
Radomir Milojkovic: guitar, electric
Llorenc Barcelo: organ, Hammond B3
Gina Schwarz: bass
Uros Stamenkovic: drums
Recorded at Dreamland Records Studios, Ibiza, Spain
Produced by Muriel Grossmann & Radomir Milojkovic
Mixed and mastered by L. Henry Sarmiento II
Photos by RR GEMS
Cover and Cd Painting by Muriel
Design: Lilac
Review:
In 2018, saxophonist Muriel Grossmann’s fine Ibiza-based quartet issued Golden Rule on the tiny Estonian RRGems label. It showcased a band that had come fully into its own after three albums. Its passionate articulation of John Coltrane’s technical and spiritual inspirations were woven through intensely focused rhythmic and globally infused harmonic aesthetics. Grossmann has worked with Serbian guitarist Radomir Milojkovic since Homecoming Reunion in 2007. Austrian bassist Gina Schwarz and Serbian drummer Uros Stamenkovic joined her in 2016 for three albums. That group is appended here by Catalonian Hammond B-3 organist Llorenç Barceló, whose playing creates a wide palette of tonal, rhythmic, and textural possibilities. Grossmann’s eight compositions continue to evoke Coltrane as a touchstone, but they also embrace the polyrhythmic traditions of the African continent and filter their discoveries through the band’s innate groove consciousness. Opener and single “Okan ti Aye” is Yoruban for “heart of the world.” It begins dramatically with a percussion orgy of trap kit, marimbas, kalimbas, and rumbling bass. Grossmann’s melody quotes from Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone from the Sun” and John Coltrane’s “Alabama.” Barceló enters with wafting chords and pulse-like stabs contrasting with Milojkovic’s strident vamping. Halfway through, the tune shifts to become a hard-grooving post-bop jam that also references Nigerian high life and Afro-beat. “Union” starts out with Schwarz’s circular yet songlike bass solo intro before Grossmann’s soprano, along with kalimbas, harp, and Stamenkovic’s drum kit, create a fluid yet airy pulse underneath. The band whispers darkly, like Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way group playing with Alice Coltrane. “Water Bowl” commences with a slippery guitar vamp buoyed by Schwarz’s woody bass swinging underneath. Hovering B-3 and layers of percussion frame the bassline as Grossmann’s alto goes full-on blues wail in a loping, soulful melody. “Chase” is introduced by Milojkovic’s six-string minor-key drone, rolling snares and tom-toms, thrumming single-string bass notes, and Grossmann’s tenor; they offer a roiling intro before Barceló makes it all cook, transforming the melody into a swirling cross between funky desert blues and Afro-beat. The first half of “Afrika Mahgala” is a vehicle for Milojkovic as he alternates between multi-dimensional chord voicings, single-string plectrum, and overdubbed slide playing. Grossmann’s long tenor solo is driven by Schwarz and Stamenkovic before they commingle with organ and guitar and dig into an infectious lyric hook. The intro to “Morning” is a blissed-out percussion confab as drums, kalimbas, marimbas, blocks, and more, entwine and caress one another before Grossmann and her tenor dig into the lower register for a solo based in North African (Middle Eastern) modalism with Milojkovic adding augmented blues licks above Barceló’s and Schwarz’s brooding ballast. A brief B-3 solo adds color and tension to the guitar break as the group’s percussion prompts Grossmann to carry the tune out. On Reverence, Grossmann’s fine band set aside fears they couldn’t top Golden Rule. Here, their inspiration, communication, and profound exploration, result in a new watermark for excellence in jazz.
Thom Jurek (AllMusic)
