THE GRP ALBUM
GRP Records
560398-2
Amazon UK
Disc: 1
1. Flame - Jarreau, Al
2. Mountain dance - Grusin, Dave
3. Deeper than you think - Benson, George
4. That's The Way Of The World - New York Voices
5. Irresistible bliss - Botti, Chris
6. Blackwood - Daniels, Eddie
7. ReJoyce
8. Minute by minute - Carlton, Larry
9. Starlight whispers - Rangell, Nelson
10. A Little Bumpin'
11. That's the way - Marienthal, Eric
12. How deep does it go - Anderson, Carl
13. Your love has lifted me - Special EFX
14. In The Middle Of The Night - Dave Grusin
15. The Stone Circle - Acoustic Alchemy
Disc: 2
1. Long and winding road - Benson, George
2. Louisiana Sunday Afternoon - Schuur, Diane
3. Palm Strings - Antoine, Marc
4. Brazilica - Lewis, Ramsey
5. Natural selection - Samuels, Dave
6. Outback oasis - Grusin, Don
7. No two ways about it - Golub, Jeff
8. Polina - Dave Grusin
9. Only you - Scott, Tom & The LA Express
10. Affair in San Miguel - Rippingtons, The
11. Everything I miss at home - Howard, George
12. San Juan Sunset - Ritenour, Lee
13. Westwood moon - Spyro Gyra
14. The Bird
There are two CD's in this set and they span 20 years of the output of this
most successful of jazz stables.
GRP owes it's origins to a partnership, both musical and business between
pianist Dave Grusin and drummer Larry Rosen, they wanted to create a record
label that would supply high quality recordings, using a combination of top
class musicians and high-class recording, including the latest digital
technology.
So far so good, when I was in Florida on holiday, I used to cruise around
with my wife in our hired Buick, with the air-con on full, listening to a
radio station called 'The Wave'. In the Florida sunshine, the music seemed
to fit the situation perfectly,
Everyday we listened to and enjoyed this type of music. When I now listen
to it on a wet, dark, cold day in December in Coventry, I'm afraid that for
me, the effect is not the same. Rock based rhythm sections are the enemy
of swing, nobody ever swings to a rock beat and that is what a lot of these
tracks have. Many of course, have a more appealing Latin American feel, but
even that to my mind becomes monotonous. The quality of everything on these
two albums is superb, the musicians and singers are master craftsmen and
the recordings first class, what it lacks is passion, soul and fire.
It is more like pop music delivered with 100 times more than normal quality,
than it is like jazz, as I expect it to be.
I like Dave Grusin's piano playing and I think the GRP Big Band was one of
the outstanding large jazz outfits, I suppose I expected to hear them on
this album. They certainly knew how to swing and played with a passion and
intensity rarely matched.
If you are a fan of the new wave, this is for you, but if you are an old
fashioned be-bopper like me, go for the Verve Album instead.
Don Mather
Don Mather is a Saxophone Player and Bandleader based in
Coventry
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