Marty Grosz
Essentials
Across seven decades, Marty Grosz has participated in a ream of recording sessions, both studio & live; in addition, he’s represented well on video (see YouTube). The ten selections for ESSENTIALS provide a glimpse into the man’s artistry.
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1995
ALL GOD’S CHILLUN’ GOT RHYTHM
Marty Grosz-guitar, vocal
1995 Bern Jazz Festival, Switzerland.
In less than three minutes, ALL GOD’S CHILLUN’ GOT RHYTHM exhibits everything you’ll need to know about his artistry; he’s the bandleader, vocalist, accompanist, bassist, percussionist, arranger, and host … this is THE Marty Grosz package! In need of no support, this solo outing (which I think he likes doing best) captures a stunning performance, beautifully filmed (for TV?). You’ll see him whisper, growl, flirt with the lyrics, and show off his sterling chops (check out the upstrokes). His tools, a vintage Gibson L-5 fitted with heavy gauge strings and unique tuning (Bb, F, C, G, B, D), are the key to his signature sound (big, fat, and powerful). Listen for the Bb pedal point in his second guitar solo chorus; it’s in homage to one of his heroes, Carl Kress (see Kress/McDonough DANZON).
ALL GOD’S CHILLUN’ GOT RHYTHM, 1995, Bern Jazz Festival, Switzerland.
Marty Grosz Original Solo Performances
2005
MIDNIGHT OIL (Grosz)
Marty Grosz-guitar
“So named because I wrote it in the wee hours.”
Recorded December 15, 2005, Pomeroy Studio
SOURCE: Acoustic Heat - Marty Grosz, Mike Peters-Jazz Guitar Duets, Sackville Recordings-SKCD2-2071, 2006.
July 30, 1976
MOXIE (Grosz)
Marty Grosz-guitar
Performed solo in concert, the guitarist displays his ability to conjure a catchy riff at a finger-snapping pace for this original blues “song.” (He incorporates a neat bridge inside this 12-bar). The B & C sections reveal Kress’ influence. Here, the composer takes inspiration from his mentor’s passages and rhythms and delivers a piece uniquely his own. By the response of the audience, we gather they approve!
Recorded live at the 1976 Concord Summer Festival, July 30, 1976, Concord, CA.
SOURCE: Soprano Summit In Concert, Concord Jazz CJ-29.
c. Summer 1977
TRACKS IN THE SNOW (Grosz)
Marty Grosz-guitar
Although uncommon for the guitarist, this picking display shows off his seasoned chops in a graceful original air. Grosz’s few solo excursions are the least known and heard of his recorded catalog. “TRACKS” (1976) and “MOXIE” (1977) were performed live at the Concord Summer Festival as part of Soprano Summit’s set.
Recorded live at the 1977 Concord Summer Festival, Concord, CA
SOURCE: Soprano Summit - Live At Concord '77, Concord Jazz CJ-52.
1957
OH, MISS HANNAH
Marty Grosz and His Honoris Causa Jazz Band featuring Carl Halen
Hooray For Bix!
Riverside Records
Recorded: 1957, c. December, Chicago, IL.
Marty Grosz-guitar, vocals, Harry Budd-trombone, Carl Halen-cornet, guitar, Turk Santos-cornet, Bob Skiver-tenor saxophone, clarinet, Frank Chace-clarinet, baritone saxophone, Tut Soper-piano, Chuck Neilson-bass, Pepper Boggs-drums.
Our earliest Marty Grosz ESSENTIAL finds him on tenor guitar. He's also responsible for the arrangement of OH, MISS HANNAH. Surrounded by some of the best Chicago "classic" jazzers of the day, Marty's first chorus (melody) has him sliding chords and bending notes (with guitar accompaniment by Halen). His second solo guitar chorus ends with a swift triplet chord run. By 1957, all the ingredients were in place for the Marty Grosz we know today; it was just a matter of months before he transitioned to a six-string guitar and completed the package.
Hooray For Bix!, Livingston Records, 1958.
1967
JAZZBO BROWN
Jim Kweskin
Jump For Joy with Ted Butterman & Marty Grosz (as Gross), The Neo-Passé Jazz Band
Vanguard Records
1967
Jim Kweskin-vocal, guitar, Frank Chace-bass saxophone, Kim Cusack-clarinet, Ted Butterman-cornet, Marty Grosz-banjo, arranger, Truck Parham-bass, Wayne Jones-drums.
Jim Kweskin made a name for himself in the early/mid-1960s during the folk and blues revival with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, releasing a batch of group and solo records. This 1967 session finds him in Chicago with a cadre of Chicagoans (The Neo-Passé Jazz Band); Marty even gets billing on the cover, though his name is misspelled (Gross). For JAZZBO BROWN, he’s on banjo, embellishing Kweskin’s vocal during the verse with chord fills. Later, he takes a half-chorus solo with a neat descending seventh-chord run.
1976
OLE MISS
Soprano Summit
Crazy Rhythm
Chiaroscuro Records-CR 178
Recorded: March 30, 1976, NYC
Bob Wilber-clarinet, soprano saxophone, Kenny Davern-soprano sax, clarinet, Marty Grosz-guitar, George Duvivier-bass, Fred Stoll-drums.
For a group as short-lived as Soprano Summit, they’ve come to epitomize the sound and feel of that all too brief “classic jazz” revival of the mid-1970s. At their inception, it paired two virtuosos (playing at the top of their game), then, with the addition of a third, no less creative artist, Soprano Summit became a formidable musical enterprise.
OLE MISS finds Davern on clarinet, full-bodied, bristling, sassy as always, Wilber sailing melodically over the changes on soprano sax, and Grosz, the powerhouse of harmonic and percussive invention. The arrangement, crafted by Wilber, features his signature (and very effective) rhythm breaks that add to the dynamism of the performance.
IF YOU WERE THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD
Crazy Rhythm
Chiaroscuro Records-CR 178
Recorded: March 30, 1976, NYC
Bob Wilber-alto saxophone, Kenny Davern-c-melody saxophone, Marty Grosz-guitar, George Duvivier-bass, Fred Stoll-drums.
The stellar guitar accompaniment and fills are enough to classify this as a Marty Grosz ESSENTIAL. The pure quality of sound Marty brings forth from his archtop guitar (Stromberg? Epiphone De Luxe?) and the two choruses of melody featuring Wilber’s sultry alto sax and Davern’s robust C-melody sax take this recording to another level of aural excellence. Between the three of them, we have a master class in the art of playing melody and accompaniment. Can anyone do this anymore, or even want to?
Kudos to producer Hank O’Neal and engineer Joe Parrino for capturing a magical moment.
c. 1978
DOIN’ THE NEW LOWDOWN
Soprano Summit
Bob Wilber-soprano sax, clarinet, Kenny Daven-soprano sax, clarinet, Marty Grosz-guitar, vocal, unknown-bass.
Panorama (TV Show), WTTG, Channel 5, Washington D.C.
Typically a quintet, they're reduced to a quartet for this television appearance. (With Marty Grosz in tow, is a drummer necessary?). Captured closeup, we're in the front row for Marty's guitar solo (on a Gibson L-5). The absence of drums and cymbals enables the lows, mids, and highs of his chord solo to ring loud and clear across 24 bars filled with a terrific combination of down and up strokes. (Catch his figure-eight stroke during the out chorus).
DOIN’ THE NEW LOWDOWN, WTTG Television, Washington D.C. c. 1978
1978/1979
GOODY, GOODY
BODY & SOUL
Goody Goody - Marty Grosz, Wayne Wright-Acoustic Guitar Duets
Aviva Records-AVIVA 6003
Recorded: 1978 & 1979
Released: 1979
Wayne Wright was the unofficial ambassador of Eddie Condon’s club in NYC during its run on 54th Street in the 1970s & 80s. He could be found most (late) nights with a Heineken in his left hand (he was a southpaw on guitar and bottle), working the crowd at the bar with his infectious sense of humor. Generous beyond belief, Wayne freely passed a good word to everyone who would listen about new and upcoming jazz guitarists. (FYI: He was responsible for bringing Les Paul out of retirement and back into the limelight). At the time of this recording, Wayne’s run with the Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet had been over for a few years, and he was freelancing in the Apple. Likewise, Marty Grosz’s tenure with Soprano Summit was coming to a close as that group would soon disband (quietly), leaving him to strum & chirp with New York City’s classic jazz elite. Together, they were visible in and around New York City and were the only working acoustic jazz guitar duet on the scene. They produced their first collection of acoustic guitar duets in 1977 (Let Your Fingers Do The Walking, Aiva Records) and had another go at it a year later. (For a twenty-year-old, rudderless, these guys were giants. Fortunately, they became mentors and, ultimately, friends).
Notes below are by Marty Grosz from the back cover of the album, Goody Goody (1979).
Wayne Wright is a good guy to belly up to the bar with. That’s how we met: we were bellied up next to each other at Condon’s, a fume-filled jazzeteria named after the late guitarist Eddie Condon, an all-time champion bar bellier. This particular night some four years ago, Wayne was forcing down his sixth Heineken with visible success while Rocky the bartender was topping off my fourth Dewar’s on the rocks. Now when Wayne has been bellying up he may laugh a little louder or drive a little slow (praise be), but he doesn’t recite poetry or sob on his sleeve, or goose waitresses, or take off his clothes, or bust guys on the bugle. I’ve spent a lifetime in saloons and value the niceties of drinking etiquette.
Wayne had just come off the road where for eighteen months he had strummed nothing but rhythm with the Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet, so he was itching to do some single-string soloing. I was touring with a quintet named Soprano Summit, a sort of latter-day Mound City Blue Blowers. (The M.C.B.B. had two kazoos; the S.S. had Bob Wilber and Kenny Davern on twin soprano saxophones). I was eager to flex my chord chops on some written duets that I’d collected in my travels. The next day Wayne and I got together. Since then we’ve cut albums, appeared at concerts, played TV shows, private parties, jazz clubs and given recitals at our favorite recital hall, Olga Bloom’s barge at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Four years of rehearsal and travel have gone by, we’re still getting together, and needless to say, we’re still bellying up to the bar.
Dan Morgenstern wrote some great notes for Let Your Fingers Do The Walking, our first album (AVIVA 6000). He told in detail all about us and about the history of jazz guitar teams. If you like this album, pick up our first one; you’ll like the music, too.
Dave Smith, a guitarist himself, did a terrific engineering job on this album. He really captures the nuances of our acoustic instruments. Wayne plays a D’Angelico Excel left-handed cutaway. I use a 1936 Epiphone Deluxe non-cutaway. As a rule, Wayne plays single-string and I handle the chord work.
GOODY GOODY
We tried to get a handle on this tune when we first sat down to build our repertoire, but for some reason it wouldn’t work. Three years later we gave it another whack and viola! we made it. Helen Ward used to sing this with B.G. during the halcyon days. For twenty years I carried the intro around in my head, sure it was from a George Van Eps record. When I heard that record again a couple of months ago, it wasn’t like this at all, so maybe I can claim ownership.
Goody Goody, Aviva Records, 1979
Wayne Wright, Mike Peters, Kenny Davern, Marty Grosz, Doylestown, Pennsylvania? 1976.
BODY AND SOUL
Musicians nicknamed this song “Bawdy and Foul,” just as they’ve dubbed “Skylark” and call the Jimmy McHugh standard “I’m In The Nude For Love.” They don’t mean disrespect because they love the tunes and keep performing them year after year. “Body And Soul” has the rarest of combinations, a fine melody, and interesting chords. My partner does it justice.
2000
GONE WITH THE WIND
I’VE FOUND A NEW BABY
Acoustic Heat - Marty Grosz, Mike Peters-Jazz Guitar Duets
Sackville Recordings-SKCD2-2071
Recorded: November 13, 2000 @ Sirius Satellite Studios, NYC
Released: 2006
Notes below are by Marty Grosz from the compact disc booklet Acoustic Heat.
WARNING! Do not listen to more than four duets at one time. Overexposure to guitar duets can result in a condition known as “Plunkitis” for which no known cure exists.”
GONE WITH THE WIND. This duo arrangement is atonement for a crude, inept one I wrote for a nine-piece band when I was young and clueless. Alas, I couldn’t resist inserting “Adios” into the mix: forgive me. Arranged by Marty Grosz.
Mike Peters & Marty Grosz, Pomeroy Audio, Brooklyn, NY c. 1998-1999
Acoustic Heat, Sackville Recordings, 2006
I’VE FOUND A NEW BABY is a stomper that has lasted since it was published in the twenties. It’s a fine showcase for Mike’s swinging improvisations, which slow down when he picks out the verse, only to heat up again later. Arranged by Marty Grosz & Mike Peters.
page 1, Marty Grosz’s guitar duet arrangement for GONE WITH THE WIND, c. 1998-1999
CITATIONS
1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ5-Dp8-jqU
2. Hooray For Bix, Riverside Records, RLP 12-268, 1958.
3. ump For Joy with Ted Butterman & Marty Grosz (as Gross), The Neo-Passé Jazz Band, Vanguard Records VRS-9243.
4. Soprano Summit, Crazy Rhythm, Chiaroscuro Records-CR 178, 1977.
5. Soprano Summit In Concert, Concord Jazz CJ-29, 1976.
6. Soprano Summit - Live At Concord '77, Concord Jazz CJ-52, 1978.
7. Panorama (TV Show), WTTG, Channel 5, Washington DC, www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDoFdAjl1GM
8. Goody Goody - Marty Grosz, Wayne Wright-Acoustic Guitar Duets, Aviva Records-AVIVA 6003, 1979.
9. Acoustic Heat - Marty Grosz, Mike Peters-Jazz Guitar Duets, Sackville Recordings-SKCD2-2071, 2006.