Steve Griggs - Reviews

Jones for Elvin - Volume 2

CD review by Jason West from Earshot Jazz (May 2000)

Led by saxophonist Steve Griggs and featuring world renowned drummer Elvin Jones, Jones For Elvin Volume 2, like its Vol. 1 predecessor, stems from the inseparable link between music and passion.

Griggs is passionate about John Coltrane; and every Coltrane fan -- which should include every jazz fan -- will enjoy listening to this recording for the similarities and differences that Griggs' tenor provides. Fantastic energy and range magnetize Griggs' solo ideas. Sculpted legator phrases reinforce his melodic sensibilities. Beneath these are subtle harmonic grooves -- the hallmark of Griggs' well-crafted compositions.

He is passionate about Elvin Jones. In the liner notes to Vol. 2 he writes: "Learning from Elvin is pure, transcendent joy." Nowhere is this more evident then on "Zones For Elvin," a tempoless tableau that provides Jones unlimited space for creating cymbal crescendos and hourglass drum rolls.

"Keiko's Kimochi" is named for Elvin's wife and business manager who also attended this May 19998 session. In Japanese, "Kimochi" means "feeling" -- a fitting translation given that here Jones stretches the time from slow to glide, furnishing the music with rare rhythmic sensitivity.

Perhaps the most amazing and certainly the most educational piece on Vol. 2 is a song that Elvin struggles on. "Chromatic Carioca" is the last of seven cuts and its rhythmic combination of eight notes and triplets initially catches Jones off guard. Phil Sparks' bass nails the Latin feel, but you can hear Elvin trying different approaches. Yet, what he ultimately creates is one for the ages.

Finally, Griggs is passionate about music. His writing is origianl and his arranging intelligent. On this recording he has surrounded himself with some of Seattle's best musicians -- trumpeter Jay Thomas, guitarist Milo Petersen, and acoustic bassist Phil Sparks -- who also happen to be his close friends.

Joe Hadlock, who taped the three day session at Bear Creek Studios; Kate Kulzer, who captured the images that adorn the CD's insert and cover; and John Bishop who disigned the layout -- each in their way reflects the consideration Steve Griggs has invested in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You can hear it in the music.

Says Griggs of this recording: "I was in the Elvin Zone." Welcome to the Griggs zone.