Muriel Grossman
Union
Dreamland, 2021

Union is the title of the new album by Austrian saxophonist Muriel Grossman.

A highly regarded and talented Austrian saxophonist, Muriel Grossman, in addition to having developed a bright solo career, has played with musicians such as Joachim Kühn, Christian Lillinger, Robert Landfermann, Wolfgang Reisinger and many others.

On November 2, 2021 Dreamland released her latest album Union, recorded in the with her quartet which features Radomir Milojkovic on guitar, Llorenç Barceló on Hammond and Uros Stamenkovic on drums.
Imagine finding Marty McFly’s Delorian, going back to the early 70s to some club in San Francisco and listening to some space rock or modal jazz group improvising on long chord vamps with extended songs with no harmonies but full of melodic inventions and timbres: the fascinating sound world of Union is thus revealed.

Milojkovic’s guitar is particularly interesting and elevates Union from being a pure “homage to an ancient sound” record. Pat Martino / Wes Montgomery touches are often added in contexts where anyone else’s approach would likely be more rock. The absence of the bass should also be noted, particularly how it frees the musicians rhythmically. The colors of the Hammond create personal and often unpredictable sound textures.

Each track seems to have its own personality and its own director: “Happiness” recalls 70s jazz-rock, “Traneing In” (skillfully) mixes country and modal, “Sundown” is inspired by the grueling slow blues of the southern United States, while “African Dance” is all based on an enthralling tribal riff.

The final and hypnotic “Union” mixes electronic sounds, an iconoclastic part on Stamenkovic’s cymbals, and drones of guitar and Hammond create alienating atmospheres. If you love modal music, long and well-developed compositions, groups that develop and shape the music moment by moment often taking unpredictable directions… Union is definitely a record not to be missed.
(EM)