Lyrical post bop jazz

10 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Bebop, JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo



Details:
Consideration: George Garzone, tenor and soprano saxophones; Tim Sessions, trombone; Frank Carlberg, piano; John Lockwood, bass; Steve Grover, drums and composer

"...Consideration is [a] solidly realized project, with strong, sensitive tunesmithing by Grover, and a good band. By and large, it's a cool and flowing set of music that swings in smart, subtle ways under Grover's benevolent leadership."- JazzTimes

"On 'Consideration', Steve Grover makes a strong case for the drummer as composer/leader with a program of harmonically sophisticated and intelligently crafted originals beautifully performed by his carefully chosen quintet. Instantly enjoyable."- Jeff Williams, NYC drummer (Dave Liebman, Lee Konitz)

"Drummer Grover proves himself as a composer on this disc...He is a solid hard bop drummer as well...A first rate entry from a composer with great promise."-Cadence

**** 4 stars (Best-of-Artist)-"Consideration presents a program of modern music without the cacophony and distortion too often associated with this musical style. This album has all the ingredients of a winner. Challenging music played by a group of artists clearly in synch with composer Steve Grover's objectives...put this album into the recommended category."- All Music Guide

Biography:

Drummer/composer Steve Grover was born February 26, 1956 in Lewiston, Maine. At age nine, he started taking lessons with the excellent local jazz drummer Dick Demers. After studying at Berklee and the University of Maine, Steve played with guitar legend Lenny Breau on and off from 1978-82, learning from a master musician. In 1979 Grover attended The Creative Music Studio, where he played in the student orchestra. At CMS, Steve was exposed to the concepts of cutting edge artists from the world of jazz, new music, and world music.

In 1980 Grover, with clarinetist Brad Terry, formed a group called The Friends of Jazz, which performed in local Maine schools and communities. The group played host from time to time to visiting artists, working with Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Tate, Gray Sargent and others while occasionally reconstituting itself with excellent players.

Grover's entry into the world of jazz composition began in 1985, when he composed Blackbird Suite, a song cycle setting for the Wallace Stevens poem Thirteen Ways of Looking At a Blackbird. Subsequently, Steve received a grant from the Maine Festival in 1986 to compose Splitting the World In Half, a collaboration with poet Mark Melnicove. Several years passed before the 1991 premiere of Blackbird Suite as a multi-media presentation involving the theater artist Lee Faulkner, which incorporated music, choreography, masks, mime, video, film, and slide projections. The piece was commissioned by the Maine Community Foundation and was staged at the Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris in June of 1991. Performances followed at the Maine Festival in August, and in the Farmington, ME school system in May 1992 as part of a week long residency.

In 1994 Grover won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz/BMI Jazz Composers Competition for Blackbird Suite. After a performance at the Kennedy Center in November 1994, Grover recorded a CD of the music, which was released in 1997 to excellent reviews. Portions of Blackbird Suite also helped Grover win- along with eleven other contestants- JAZZIZ magazine's Percussion On Fire talent search in 1996, securing a spot on the CD accompanying the February 1997 issue.

Steve's career as an educator began in 1980, teaching in an NEA-sponsored Jazz Artist-In-Residence Program. From 1984-97 Grover taught at The Maine Jazz Camp, with a stint as director from 1992-'94. Since the 1980s, Grover has taught at Bowdoin College, Bates College, and the University of Maine @ Augusta, where he received his music degree. He also served as Gifted/Talented instructor for several Maine schools from 1984-97. Furthermore, Grover was part of the faculty of The International Summer Jazz School, based in Cracow, Poland, in 1994- 95. From 1998 - 2000, Steve taught at The Maine Percussion Camp.

As a jazz drummer, Grover has performed with Eddie Gomez, Jerry Bergonzi, Chris Potter, Herb Pomeroy, Mick Goodrick, Tony Malaby, Greg Tardy, Jeff Coffin, and others. Steve's own CDs feature such excellent musicians as George Garzone, Tim Ray, Dave Ballou, Ben Street, Frank Carlberg, and Christine Correa. Reviews of Steve's CDs have appeared in Downbeat, JazzTimes, Cadence, and other publications. The CD Consideration was released in 1999, a quintet album of originals. In 2000 Steve released Remember, his first recording with long-time friend Brad Terry. In 2003, Steve released the trio CD Breath to excellent reviews, with the title track from the CD winning an honorable mention in The 2004 Billboard Song Contest, as well as being featured on the NPR web site All Songs Considered in February 2004.

Steve has also participated in the CD projects of other musician colleagues, including guitarist Tony Gaboury's CD Empathy, released in 1999; and guitarist Richard Nelson's CDs Figurations from 2001, and Origin Story from 2004.