Grant Stewart - Next Spring - World-renowned tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart is known for his rich tone, swinging phrasing, and deep connection to the jazz tradition. Next Spring is his 5th album for Cellar Music. He is joined by three of his favorite players; Tardo Hammer on piano, Paul Sikivie on bass and Phil Stewart on drums.
My current project is called Omniphoria... a title conceived by Mary Suzanne Garvey (my wife/partner for many years). Mary also provides the lovely painting for the cover art. The project consists of 13 tracks featuring several of my longtime associates and musicians from years of making music, Dan Balmer, Dave Captein, Doug Durbrow and several others joined me. We were even able to squeeze in a live track from my band in 1989. And I was thrilled to record a piano/voice duet with my brother Mukunda who joins me in a song from the world of Hare Krishna of which he is a founding devotee.
The silky smooth vocal style of Earl Grant was, along with his keyboard skills, highly regarded among young and old record buyers from the mid-50s until his untimely death in a road accident in 1970. When he passed away prematurely, he left behind a vast catalogue of albums and singles that have mostly remained un-reissued in the digital era. Some years ago, Jasmine put together a 2CD set containing his first four albums. We are now finally following that release up with a compilation of almost all of Earl's vocal 45s from the first six years of his career - the first time, to our knowledge, that such an undertaking has been attempted and accomplished. Earl did not have many significant hits outside of his international 1958 chart smash 'The End' and the ever popular 1960 club favourite 'House Of Bamboo', but he always delivered a quality product and many of these singles sold extremely well over an extended period of time. He was with the same record label for his entire career barring his first two obscure 45s - and let's face it, that would not have happened if he hadn't been selling records! The selections here range from cool R&B covers to sublime, mature balladry, all delivered in a style not unlike that of Earl's idol Nat King Cole. The music featured has aged well, stood the test of time and offers a fine testament to his abundant talent.
