1. Alabamy Home
2. Did I Remember?
3. If It Ain't Love
4. You
5. What'll I Do?
6. Don't Let It Bother You
7. I'd Rather Be With You
8. Murder In The Moonlight
9. Four or Five Times
10 Life Begins When You're In Love
11. Spoken Introduction to "Just A Gigolo"
12. Just A Gigolo
13. Spoken Introduction to "English Blues"
14. English Blues
Marty Grosz - Guitar, vocals
Jon-Erik Kellso – Trumpet
Ken Peplowski - Clarinet, tenor sax
Scott Robinson - Baritone sax, C-Melody sax,
cornet
James Dapogny - Piano, cornet
Vince Giordano - Bass, bass sax
Greg Cohen – Bass
Arnie Kinsella - Drums, orchestral bells
Having
attended several of the Swinging Jazz Parties
at Blackpool, I was sad to learn that these
events had to be discontinued because of the
organiser’s illness. One reason for my sadness
was that the closure meant I would get fewer
opportunities to see the wondrous Marty Grosz,
one of the Blackpool regulars. Marty is not
only the son of German cartoonist George Grosz
but he’s also a unique jazz entertainer: playing
guitar, singing and telling humorous stories.
As this album shows, he is also dedicated
to performing neglected songs, mostly from
the twenties and thirties. You may know a
song like Did I Remember? from the
recording by Billie Holiday and Don’t Let
It Bother You as sung by Fats Waller (one
of Marty’s idols) but you may never have heard
such numbers as I’d Rather Be With You
(co-written by Elsa Maxwell) or Murder
in the Moonlight ("Cupid has found
us guilty of love in the first degree").
Marty
Grosz surrounds himself with excellent musicians,
notably the fine trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso,
the extremely versatile Scott Robinson and
brilliant reedman Ken Peplowski (Marty’s collaborator
in many loony shenanigans). Marty is no slouch
either: singing with enthusiasm, skilfully
strumming the guitar, and introducing some
songs with shaggy-dog stories which are as
erudite as they are ironical.
Marty
Grosz is a one-off. But don’t be misled by
his role as a comic raconteur: he is also
a fine jazzman, dedicated to good music.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Arbors Jazz
ARCD 19319
