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Don Grolnick - The Complete Blue Note Recordings
Artist: Don Grolnick
Title: The Complete Blue Note Recordings
Release Date Jul 15, 1997
Recording Date Feb 14, 1989-Dec 1991
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Blue Note
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Crossover Jazz, Post-Bop, Piano Jazz, Jazz Instrument
Source: Original CD
CD 1 - CD 2
Extractor: EAC 0.99 prebeta 4
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-E10L
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Codec: Flac 1.2.1; Level 8
Single File.flac, Eac.log,
File.cue Multiple wav file with Gaps (Noncompliant)
None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
Size Torrent: 586 Mb
Cover, only front
Tracklisting:
Disc One: Weaver of Dreams
1 Nothing Personal 5:44
2 Taglioni 9:06
3 A Weaver of Dreams 4:42
4 His Majesty the Baby 6:49
5 I Want to Be Happy 5:06
6 Persimmons 6:54
7 Or Come Fog 5:23
8 Five Bars 7:19
Musicians:
Don Grolnick : piano
Michael Brecker : tenor saxophone
Randy Brecker : trumpet
Bob Mintzer : bass clarinet
Barry Rogers : trombone
Dave Holland : bass
Peter Erskine : drums
Disc Two: Nighttown
1 Heart of Darkness 6:27
2 What Is This Thing Called Love 6:13
3 One Bird, One Stone 6:26
4 Nighttown 8:12
5 Genie 7:16
6 Spot That Man 5:30
7 The Cost of Living 8:08
8 Blues for Pop 8:47
Personnel:
Don Grolnick(p);
Joe Lovano(ts);
Randy Brecker(t);
Marty Ehrlich(bcl);
Steve Turre(tb);
Dave Holland(b);
Bill Stewart(d).
Listen to sample
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FPPnuabmLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3WY4DabJs&feature=related
Bio
As a youth growing up in Levittown, New York, Don Grolnick became captivated by the sound of jazz. His first instrument was the accordion, although he soon switched to his grandparents’ piano. Grolnick began to immerse himself in the sounds of blues, bebop, and post-bop. He absorbed the music of Erroll Garner, Cannonball Adderly, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ray Charles, Sonny Rollins, Bobby Timmons, Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Horace Silver, to name just a few. While still a teenager, Grolnick began to write songs and arrangements.
Don went on to attend Tufts University, majoring in philosophy. Sometime during his college years, he met up with saxophonist Michael Brecker. After Don Grolnick returned to New York in 1969, Brecker asked him to join the seminal jazz fusion band Dreams. Around this time, Don also began to explore mainstream pop and funk music. In 1975, Grolnick joined the first incarnation of the Brecker Brothers and in 1979, he became part of Steps (later Steps Ahead), a band that evolved out of late-night sessions led by vibes player Mike Mainieri at the Seventh Avenue South nightclub in New York. Don's compositions became part of the defining sound of these two groups, as did his keyboard style.
In the early 1980s, Grolnick began to bring his own groups into Seventh Avenue South. At some point, Don Grolnick decided that it was time to take his own music into the studio. In 1983 he made a fusion-oriented record called Hearts and Numbers, with a stellar lineup of players, including Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine and Hiram Bullock. In 1988, Don Grolnick took a complete break from jingles, pop tours, record dates and producing, and made some space for the music that was building in his mind. For several months, he shut himself in a room with his Steinway, listening, playing and writing. In early 1989, Grolnick took a stack of new tunes into the studio and recorded Weaver of Dreams with an all-star ensemble: Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Barry Rogers, Bob Mintzer, Peter Erskine, and Dave Holland. Blue Note picked up the recording and released it in 1990 to critical acclaim. Don followed up in 1992 with Nighttown.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Don Grolnick worked as the producer of three solo albums for Mike Brecker, the second of which won Michael his first Grammy. The two musicians collaborated on a number of compositions for these recordings.
The early 1990s were a productive and creative time for Don. He married jazz singer Jeanne O'Connor and brought his own music to premier clubs like New York's Sweet Basil and The Blue Note, as well as the concert stages of Europe and Japan.He continued to perform with James Taylor and other pop luminaries. He served as musical director for one of Sting’s star-studded Rainforest benefit concerts at Carnegie Hall. As the 90s progressed, Don Grolnick’s restless musical imagination turned to Latin music. In 1994 he recorded Medianoche, with a lineup that included Michael Brecker, Andy Gonzalez, Mike Mainieri, Steve Berrios, Milton Cardona, Dave Valentin, and Don Alias. It was first released on Japan's Pony Canyon label. Sadly, Don did not live to see the record released in the U.S. on the Warner Bros. label. It was nominated for a Grammy award in 1996.
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Don Grolnick (b. Brooklyn, NY, September 23, 1948; died June 1, 1996) was an American jazz and pop pianist and composer, most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Steps (featuring Michael Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Eddie Gomez, Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine), Billy Cobham, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, the Brecker Brothers, Bob Mintzer, Dave Holland and Steely Dan.
Grolnick grew up in Levittown, New York and began his young musical life playing the accordion, but later switched to piano. His interest in jazz began as a child when his father took him to a Count Basie concert, and soon after they also saw Erroll Garner perform at Carnegie Hall.
He went on to study at Tufts University with a major in philosophy, but his interest in music remained. At university he met Michael Brecker and later became involved in the Jazz fusion group Dreams (where he played alongside John Abercrombie), the funk fusion band Brecker Brothers and was an integral part of the dream team of the early 80's NYC jazz scene - Steps. He also began to explore other genres, and in 1974 began a long musical partnership with James Taylor.
Grolnick died on June 1st, 1996 from non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Selected Discography
Hearts and Numbers (1985; Hip Pocket; then VeraBra records)
Weaver of Dreams (1989; Blue Note Records)
Nighttown (1992; Blue Note Records)
Medianoche (1995; Pony Canyon; then Warner Bros Records)
London Concert (2000; Fuzzy Music)
Steps - Smokin' in the Pit (1999; NYC Records)
Steps - A Collection: Step by Step/Paradox (2000; NYC Records)
Review
Don Grolnick was a subtle and rather underrated pianist throughout his career, but his flexibility and talents were well known to his fellow musicians. Grolnick played in rock bands while a teenager but was always interested in jazz. He worked in the early fusion group Dreams (1969-1971), the Brecker Brothers (starting in 1975), and in the early '80s with Steps Ahead. He has long been a busy session musician often utilized by pop singers. In the 1980s, Grolnick appeared in many settings including with Joe Farrell, George Benson, Peter Erskine, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Mike Stern, and the Bob Mintzer big band. Don Grolnick is heard at his best on his Hip Pocket debut Hearts and Numbers (1986), and on his two Blue Note albums, which have been reissued as a double-CD.
Don Grolnick had such a successful career as a commercial keyboardist, playing with the likes of James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Steely Dan, and James Brown, among others, that it was often forgotten that his roots were in jazz. In 1989, he recorded the album Weaver of Dreams and nearly three years later led Nighttown. All of the music from the two dates are reissued on this two-CD set without any additional material. In both cases, Grolnick utilizes an unusual four-horn front line featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker, either Barry Rogers or Steve Turre on trombone, and Michael Brecker or Joe Lovano on tenor, and has a prominent bass clarinet (either Bob Mintzer or Marty Ehrlich). The unpredictable arrangements, which cover a wide range of styles, are quite colorful, sometimes hinting at Dixieland and swing, and are open to the influence of Charles Mingus. Grolnick himself (heard throughout on acoustic piano) is well showcased on "A Weaver of Dreams," and his eccentric and joyful reworking of "I Want to Be Happy" is a classic. Well worth exploring.
--Scott Yanow
All Music Guide |
