Richard Grossman Trio: Even Your Ears

This trio with bassist Ken Faliano and drummer Alex Cline coordinated with pianist Grossman for these first-time isssued tracks recorded in 1990 (4-6) and just before his demise in 1992 (1-3). All three were associated via 9Winds, and here they explore and balance a range of organically created shapes and textures. As a relative elder statesman in this music, Grossman’s conceptions for piano were informed by the serialists, Cowell, and Varese sifted through early Taylor, Knopf, Bley, and the late Lowell Davidson. Scattershot runs, elasticity, and the aleatoric characterize this CD’s music. the remarkable Faliano produces a bass clarinet sound on the brisk “The Stickest Day of the Year.” Besides various approaches to music’s fundamentals, Grossman championed an associative, intuition-based music dependent upon the element of chance, his unaccompanied performances like “Fresh Vegetables” and “The Switchback at Big Sur” indicative of how effectively he replicated glassy qualities and scurrying movements in his fusion of avant garde.

Originally Published November 1, 1998