Rein de Graaff and Gigi Gryce

Sometimes you start out in one direction and wind up somewhere else. Years ago I bought a record by Rein de Graaff, the Dutch pianist. Recently, I ran across a de Graaff CD I had bought with several others on the (also Dutch) Blue Jack label.  What I hadn’t remembered was that the CD, Blue Lights, was a tribute to the compositions of saxophonist Gigi Gryce. I knew about Gryce’s career in the late 1950s, his renown as a composer, his struggles on the business side of the music biz, and his sudden disappearance from the jazz scene. A few years ago, I read an article about his personal crisis, conversion to Islam, and lengthy career as a dedicated music teacher in an NYC public school. Aside from knowing the names of some of his compositions, like Social Call and Nica’s Tempo, that was it for me.

Thanks to Rein de Graaff and Blue Lights, I now appreciate Gryce’s compositions much more. I was particularly taken with Sans Souci and Evening in Casablanca. Both are impressionistic pieces in the Tadd Dameron mode, although Gryce must have visited Casablanca round midnight. Some tribute albums are slapdash affairs, but this one provides a well-thought-out showcase for a neglected composer.

The musicians are first rate. Altoist Herb Geller, on the scene since the 1950s, is fiery, with a bit of Johnny Hodges lyricism mixed in. John Marshall, like Geller an American expatriate, is excellent on trumpet. De Graaff solos and comps beautifully throughout, and Marius Beets and Eric Ineke on bass and drums furnish solid support.

Tadd Dameron once said, “There’s enough ugliness in the world. I’m interested in beauty,” and Blue Lights delivers. Here’s Minority.