Muriel Grossmann - Momentum

2017 release

Austrian alto, soprano, tenor saxophonist and composer Muriel Grossmann was born in Paris. She grew up in Vienna where she studied the flute and later switched to the saxophone (alto and soprano) to further her studies in music. Grossmann played and toured with various Rhythm & Blues, World Music and Jazz groups. In 2002 she moved to Barcelona where she started to lead her own bands for recordings and concerts. She played and recorded with many well-respected musicians including Christian Lillinger, Robert Landfermann, Johannes Fink, Wolfgang Reisinger, Joachim Kühn, and Christoph Kurzmann. Muriel Grossmann was able to translate the influence of John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman into her own experience, creating a highly personal language. Besides the pursuit of her own music, Muriel Grossmann can also be heard playing Jazz and Rhythm and Blues with small and large orchestras, up to 200 concerts throughout the year.

Momentum Review:

The spiritual connection on Momentum is immediately obvious. Saxophonist Muriel Grossmann has long histories with guitarist Radomir Milojkovic, bassist Gina Schwarz and drummer Uros Stamenkovic, developed through many performances and recordings. Grossmann is clearly in control as she uses tenor, alto and soprano to lead band and listener on a journey that takes off like a missile, passes through meditation, reaches nirvana and ends with thanksgiving.

Grossmann’s intense solo supplication and powerful jousting with Milojkovic begins the session as “elevation” rises into a sanctified setting. The comparison to Coltrane is clear but the quartet finds its own supreme space through the title track’s initial introspection, gorgeous tenor phrasing and penetrating guitar soloing. Schwarz and Stamenkovic buttress the melodies with unceasing rhythm and shifting augmentation. The latter is a beautifully emotive player and ensures that the excursion remains smooth and on course. “Chant” cleverly gives her space, allowing a pizzicato solo to define a mantra answered by the melismatic saxophone/guitar pairing on “Sacred”.

“Horizon” is a glimpse of enlightenment, soprano painting a free landscape before “Rising” snakecharmes its way to a penultimate peaceful Groove driven by percussive decoration. “Gratitude” appropriately closes the session with a grateful benediction, highlighting Grossmann’s improvisational skills. Known primarily for her exceptional work on alto and soprano, Grossmann uncovers new spiritual spaces on Momentum by skillfully incorporating the expanded tonal and textural palette of her tenor in the context of a compatible quartet.

Elliott Simon, March 2018, NYC Jazz Record