Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jerry Granelli: What I Hear Now

Jerry Granelli: What I Hear Now

By Dan Bilawsky
June 5, 2015
View read count

This is what master drummer Jerry Granelli hears now: a wide variety of left-of-center music that circumvents strict harmonic corralling, thanks to the absence of guitar or piano, and makes good use of multiple horns. Of course, if you catch Granelli a few months down the road, he might hear something completely different.

Over the past half a century, Jerry Granelli has been making his mark by being his own man. Who else but a staunch individualist could make his initial splash(es) by holding down the drum chairs in the

Vince Guaraldi

piano
1928 - 1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Vince Guaraldi Trio and the

Denny Zeitlin

piano
b.1938

" data-original-title="" title="">Denny Zeitlin Trio. And that was just the beginning for this inside-outside talent. Subsequent work supporting everybody from saxophonist

Jane Ira Bloom

saxophone, soprano

" data-original-title="" title="">Jane Ira Bloom to guitarist

Robben Ford

guitar
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Robben Ford solidified Granelli's reputation as a sideman, but it's his leader dates that really show the scope of his imagination.

For nearly three decades, Granelli has been cranking out creative music under his own name—about twenty albums in all, including sessions with two guitars, outr�� duo dates, horn-heavy outings, and more. Here, Granelli builds on the trio he has with bassist

Simon Fisk

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Simon Fisk and saxophonist Dani Oore, adding two other saxophonists—Andrew McKelvey and

Mike Murley

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Murley—and trombonist Andrew Jackson to the mix. The resultant music, not surprisingly, is highly eclectic.

What I Hear Now opens with "Prologue," a number that finds saxophones in search mode, looking to and fro for answers. "Run Danny Run" keeps the focus on the horns, but Granelli joins in, contributing to the pointed rhythmic dialogue that urges the song forward. Then there's the desert stroll of "Walter White," grounded by the bass-drum hookup of Granelli and Fisk; the noir-ish "Mystery," a number which is smoky and wholly seductive; the slinky and hip "Dance For Me"; the slow-moving, horn-centered "Another Place"; and "The Swamp," a killer odd-metered groove number that never feels odd. In less than forty minutes, Granelli convincingly covers more ground than plenty of other musicians could cover given several albums worth of space.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Prologue; Run Danny Run; Walter White; Mystery' Dance For Me; Another Place; The Swamp.

Personnel

Jerry Granelli

drums

Jerry Granelli: drums; Mike Murley: tenor saxophone; Dani Oore: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Andrew McKelvey: alto saxophone; Andrew Jackson: trombone; Simon Fisk: 3 string bassetto.

Album information

Title: What I Hear Now | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Addo Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

zBug: Splitting Glass / Twilight Sun...
< Previous

Galactic Parables: Volume 1
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.