(Modern Jazz, Free Jazz, Avant-Garde) Lou Grassi Quartet (Rob Brown, Herb Robertson, Ken Filiano) - Avanti Galoppi {CIMP #313, USA} - 2004, APE (image+.cue), lossless

Personnel: Lou Grassi (drums, percussion); Lou Grassi; Rob Brown (alto saxophone); Ken Filiano (double bass); Herb Robertson (trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn).
Recording information: 06/08/2004.
This set is notable for being the first time that altoist Rob Brown and trumpeter Herb Robertson were teamed up on a small-group recording. Although having slightly different approaches, with Robertson more inclined to use speech-like phrases and tonal distortions, they blend together quite well. Bassist Ken Filiano is the glue of the quartet while Lou Grassi constantly plays colorful drum patterns and adds commentary. Although there are fine individual solos during the seven group originals, it is when the two horns solo together (with strong support from Filiano and Grassi) that the post-bop music is at its most exciting. ~ Scott Yanow

Lou Grassi Quartet - Avanti Galoppi
Catalog Number: CIMP Records 313
I asked Lou Grassi (1947, Summit, NJ) how this group came to exist. He said that he thought it would be great to get together Herb Robertson (1951, Plainfield, NJ) and Rob Brown (1962, Hampton, VA). Lou's feelings germinated from a comment made months earlier by Herb who had said to Lou that he felt he would be a good pairing with Rob. Ken Filiano (1952, Patchogue, NY) was then brought in. (It could be argued that Ken would be a good dynamic combination with just about any creative force.) The situation was felt out, rehearsals made, and the idea pitched to me.
My reaction to this pairing was not that I could immediately hear it work but, more than that, how could it not work? By work, I'm not thinking a comfortable mix or fit of 4 players into a quartet to produce nice comfortable music. Instead, I'm thinking 4 edgy players who push and challenge themselves and (by necessity) those in their vicinity into a symbiotic dynamic of powerful and challenging music of substance for satisfying listening.
Ken first played in The Spirit Room sometime in 1991 and did his first CIMP session, a duo with Vinny Golia (#111) in 1996. Rob's first CIMP was in 1997 (#144) on which he joined Lou on Bruce Eisenbeil's debut, and then a bit later, co-leading a quartet with Lou (CIMP 161). Prior to that I had helped produce Rob's 1988 debut (a duo with Matt Shipp) on Cadence Jazz Records (1037).
Herb made his first CIMP in 1996 (#110) and was the original trumpeter in Lou's PoBand (Cadence Jazz Records 1062, CIMP 156).
Lou's first CIMP session also goes back to 1996 (#116) when, along with Ken and Roswell Rudd, he made up Steve Swell's Quartet. Since then, Lou has assisted andled many of CIMP's successes.
As a result of having worked previously with everyone in this group, I had every confidence that it was not a question of whether or not they could make the (CIMP) grade, but a matter of getting out of the way and facilitating the situation to foster their best and then picking the best of their best. With this in mind we galloped ahead, not knowing what to expect but expecting great things.
The group rolled in on the early afternoon of June 8th, following an appearance at the Rochester Jazz Fest the night before. They set up, did a sound check, worked out somestrategies, and seemed to pick up an extension from the previous night's work.
They opened with Herb's multi-sectional composition Squatting Women, with Ken setting a wonderfully challenging pace in his bass intro. In trying to capture Ken's desired sound during the sound check, it was decided to close the large wooden doors to The Spirit Room. This cut off a welcome breeze on an 80°F plus day, but it gave us the acoustic picture that Ken wanted. This is not our normal configuration and, in cutting off the breeze in one location, it swung open a door in another location, creating a squeak that you might detect during Ken's solo intro.
The next piece was delayed for 3 hours after the group learned food was ready. Ken commented something about never keep the cook waiting, preceded, by seconds, the rush to the dinner table. Following dinner, while Lou and Herb napped, Rob took asmall hike and Ken engaged in one of the 4 things he appears to like best (including playing and eating): talking. After everyone reconvened, they opened with Dancing Shadows, notable for, among other things, some odd tones from Rob followed by an exciting trumpet solo; classic Herb. Then Lou calledfor his "hit," Ballad of 9/11, a piece he debuted on CIMP (278).
Take one of 9/11 was less than stellar and the group went on to Rob's searingly plaintive ballad, Underground Elevation, a moving work further inscribed by an inspired solo from its composer, nicely dovetailed by a muted Herb dialogue with himself before he passed it over to the rhythm and a re-address of the theme.
After a break, they regrouped with Willie B., opening with horns sans rhythm, it evolves into a whirlwind of activity and a strong display from the formidable front line of Brown and Robertson and a feature for Lou's rolling drums.
Another break and the group then addressed Rob's Lake George, on which Herb forces the listener to focus on his purposely understated muted pocket trumpet dynamic, nicely contrasted by one of Rob's most fluid solos, before turning it over to the rhythm.
Approaching theend of a night's work and a concert CD, Lou called for Avanti Galoppi, a bit of an Old World melody over a familiar Grassi drum pattern which opens up into a nice free exchange between the horns while Ken plays counterpoint to the whole.
One last break and then they did a retake of Ballad of 9/11.This time the attack was more minimalist and colored by the electronic gizmos of Ken's bass. It opens with a dawning quality, slow and unhurried before rhythm, tempo, and sound draw together in a coordinated energy. It's a strong statement, reflective of the talents of the quartet, the sense offinish of the concert, and a night's work. And the beginning of a lasting listening experience.
-- Robert D. Rusch - June 8, 2004

Lou Grassi Quartet: Avanti Galoppi (2004)
By DEREK TAYLOR, Published: November 23, 2004
Inspiration for album titles rarely conforms to any sort of conventional wisdom. Witness the curious phrase chosen by drummer Lou Grassi to christen his latest CIMP offering. The Italian expression translates to "gallop ahead," a directive that mirrors Grassi's tendency toward barely bridled energy behind his kit. Subtlety and passivity aren't his usual temperaments and he's vigorously stoked the rhythmic engines of many a free music ensemble. Still, his sensitive touch on the balladic opening piece here counters the argument that his sticks are somehow allergic to poise or restraint.
Grassi's colleagues on this early summer Spirit Room date are just as adept at dodging easy codification. Brown remains one of the foremost active voices on his horn. His name surfaces on a steady number of sessions each year as sideman and leader, but it does so unassumedly and without ego. Robertson and Filiano keep similar busy schedules. But again their efforts largely elude the notice of the larger jazz press, a routine blunder made all the more distressing given their deserving talents. Fortunately CIMP protocol doesn't revolve around industry scuttlebutt, and these four receive a justly earned opportunity to commit a handful of original compositions to tape.
The title track unfurls as a taciturn dirge anchored on the dull drone of Filiano's bass and a clip-clop rhythm on Grassi's cymbals and toms. Brown and Robertson engage in exchange of liquid legato lines framed by pockets of polyphony that lead to a sudden and pensively stated close. Built on a cyclic rhythmic vamp, Filiano's "Dancing Shadows" sounds a bit threadbare across its nearly fourteen minutes, but a singing stops-laden solo from the composer late in the piece counterweights earlier meandering moments. Brown's "Lake George" also works off a repetitive ostinato from Filiano coupled to a steady shuffle beat. Among the criminally unsung on his instrument, the bassist's pitch-perfect patterns convey the harmonic glue of the group. Robertson's muted pocket trumpet is oddly (if intentionally) off-mic and the transitions feel a bit forced, particularly from Grassi's corner, but the finely-threaded theme is a memorable one. The trumpeter's stuttering smears and growls on "Squatting Woman" register in stark contrast, exemplifying his complete command of tonal dynamics and a voice as expressive as it is exacting.
Sincere in sentiment and appropriately downcast in mood, the leader's "Ballad of 9/11" doesn't strike sparks until its final minutes. when the horns ramp up the intensity in a push of florid, twining lines led by Brown's gravity-nullifying alto. The band closes with "Willie B," another Filiano piece that gains momentum from unaccompanied prefatory exchange between the horns. Grassi's churning tom rolls punctuate the action in a brawny closing solo more in line with his usual brio. The program may not register with as the finest work from any of these players, but there's still more than enough collective creativity and quality on hand to recommend it.
Track Listing: Underground Elevation/ Avanti Galoppi/ Dancing Shadows/ Lake George/ Ballad of 9/11/ Squatting Women/ Willie B.
Personnel: Lou Grassi - drums & percussion; Rob Brown - alto saxophone; Ken Filiano - bass; Herb Robertson- trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn. Recorded: June 8, 2004, Rossie, NY.
Record Label: CIMP Records | Style: Modern Jazz