Steve Grover is much too humble

[Lois Gilbert]

The Steve Grover Trio will be presenting a series of concerts in Maine February 26-28 to celebrate the recent CD 'Breath' on Invisible Music Records.

Steve Grover Trio Concerts February 26-28:

Frank Carlberg, piano; Chris Van Voorst Van Beest, bass; Steve Grover, drums

Thursday Feb 26 UMA clinic 1PM, concert 7:30
Friday Feb 27 Gibson Hall Bowdoin College 8PM
Saturday Feb 28 Olin Arts Center 8PM

The title piece 'Breath' was recently chosen to be on National Public Radio's 'All Songs Considered' web site, which through their 'Open Mic' forum presents independent artists in a weekly showcase. Listeners can vote on a scale of 1-5 for each of the artists. Go to

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/open...pisode=current

and vote!
The title piece 'Breath' was recently chosen to be on National Public Radio's 'All Songs Considered' web site, which through their 'Open Mic' forum presents independent artists in a weekly showcase. Listeners can vote on a scale of 1-5 for each of the artists. Go to

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/open...pisode=current

and vote!

[Samuel]

It is a pleasure to see this artist, and this particular piece of work, receive well-deserved recognition. Here is most of my review of Breath as published in the October, 2003 edition of UpBeat .


A JEWEL TODAY

Steve Grover Trio – BREATH
Invisible Music IM-2029 (2003)

Today . . . more players can get their music in front of the world than in the past, but I haven't found an increase in jazz discs that really make a difference. Breath does. I've heard it a dozen times, and it still grabs me by the toes and knocks me flat.

Across twenty-plus years, Steve Grover has honed his compositional approach to a razor's edge. At this point, Grover is not trafficking in tricky arrangements, catchy riffs, mood-altering modulations or the challenge of the day, mixed-meters. He can; he has done so successfully in the past; he doubtless will again. But this CD shows nothing more and nothing less than acute songwriting showcased by quiet, fiery playing.

Breath achieves its excitement the hard way. Tension is built into melodic compositions and wound into taut improvisations. It's clear that Grover and his longtime accomplices – Chris Van Voorst Van Beest on double-bass and Frank Carlberg on piano – are bound tight enough to guide each other along the narrow path of focused, energetic quietude. This is an ensemble which avoids the quagmire of somnambulance, on the one hand, and the shoals of relentless exclamation on the other.

Some measure of credit must go to engineer Peter Kontrimas. The dynamics on Breath come from the band, not from the control-room, but it takes a steady hand to capture them nevertheless. The resulting product displays every nuance Carlberg delivered to the keyboard and highlights the sharp stick-tones of Grover's ride cymbal (here, a timbre reminiscent of Jack DeJohnette's instruments). The full range of tones guest tenor saxophonist Andrew Rathbun wrings from his horn on "Portrait" appear with startling clarity. And Kontrimas, reputedly a fine jazz bassist, appears to have enjoyed portraying a full yet clear double-bass tone. The younger Van Voorst delivers a performance which shows a daunting level of imagination and precision.

. . . .

In a perfect world Breath would have a place on the national "best-of" lists this year. Fortunately, we can put it on our own.

[Rettoforever]

I am an old student of Steve Grover and I cannot sing his praises enough. I saw both of his performances at Bates and Bowdoin college. The trio works well off of each other-- and since I am partial to the piano and bass, I have the same respect that I have for Steve, for the people he surrounds himself with.

The cd "Breath" captures a new line of Steve's compositions-- but the trio needs to witnessed live to be fully understood. Recordings are always a little reserved.

I suggest everyone see Steve Grover in any of his playing situations.

www.stevegrover.com

And pick up a cd at the show-- it's cheaper