Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Bachelor of Music Honours
School
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
First Supervisor
Nick Abbey
Abstract
Steve Grossman was a tenor saxophonist from Brooklyn, New York, who passed away in 2020, leaving a catalogue of recordings and improvisations that are largely overlooked and under-appreciated by the mainstream jazz culture. Inspired heavily by the modal and free jazz improvisations of John Coltrane during his later period (which heavily utilised a chromatic approach to generate intensity), Grossman developed his own unique and powerful approach to the post-Coltrane style. This voice began to solidify from a young age, as is evident on recordings during the 1970s, such as Miles Davis’ Black Beauty Live at Fillmore West (1973) and Live at the Lighthouse (1972), with Elvin Jones. Both these albums were made when Grossman was only a teenager. Although a ferocious and commanding player in his youth, Grossman’s career was ultimately tarnished by a notorious drug habit, and his idiosyncratic style was never developed beyond the 1980s. The main aim of this study was to develop my approach to chromatic improvisation and intensity generation by exploring the vocabulary of early Steve Grossman and reapplying it through a practice-led research methodology (PLR), borrowing various methods from jazz practice. My research has focused on Grossman’s playing from 1973 particularly his chromatic approach to improvisation on his first album as bandleader, Some Shapes to Come. This study contributes to knowledge concerning Steve Grossman’s improvisational style and insights into the ways PLR has been used to incorporate characteristics of this playing into my own emerging improvisational approach. The three overarching sections are a literature review, a transcription analysis of Pressure Point by Steve Grossman and finally a practise component, utilising creative cycles aimed at reapplying Grossman’s approach in my own playing.
DOI
10.25958/tpy8-bx09
Recommended Citation
Parker, J. (2024). Steve Grossman, the catalyst: A practice-led research investigation into developing a chromatic approach to improvisation. Edith Cowan University. https://doi.org/10.25958/tpy8-bx09