Steve Grossman, a saxophonist who caught the jazz world’s attention when he was recruited by Miles Davis at just 18, died on Aug. 13 in Glen Cove, N.Y. He was 69.
His younger brother and only immediate survivor, Myles, said the cause was cardiac arrest.
Mr. Grossman was playing at the Village Gate in Manhattan in 1969, just a year after entering the Juilliard School, when Davis walked in. Mr. Grossman was virtually unknown at the time, but Davis — an astute judge of talent whose sidemen over the years included John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and other future stars — decided that he wanted him in his band.
Mr. Grossman, who played tenor and soprano saxophone, joined at an opportune moment. Davis had recently finished recording the album “Bitches Brew,” a watershed in the fusion of jazz and rock, and his music was beginning to find a larger and younger audience.
Mr. Grossman had big shoes to fill. He replaced Wayne Shorter, considered by many to be one of the greatest saxophonists and composers in jazz history. Mr. Shorter, who had been with Davis since 1964, had left to form the band Weather Report with the keyboardist Joe Zawinul.
Mr. Grossman’s work with Davis, both in concert and on records like “A Tribute to Jack Johnson,” impressed musicians and listeners alike.
After about a year with Davis, he went to work with another high-profile bandleader: the drummer Elvin Jones, best known for his long tenure with Coltrane. Mr. Grossman, who, like most saxophonists of his generation, was deeply influenced by Coltrane’s music, stayed with the group until 1976 — for much of that time alongside another Coltrane disciple, Dave Liebman. Mr. Grossman was soon recognized as a leading light of the post-Coltrane school.
“He’s like the baby of the group,” Jones said in a 1971 interview. “He takes up where John Coltrane left off, but you just have to hear him to really appreciate the tremendous talent that he has.”
Mr. Grossman’s first album as a leader, “Some Shapes to Come,” on which he was backed by the bassist Gene Perla, the drummer Don Alias and the keyboardist Jan Hammer, was released in 1974.
By the late 1970s he was leading his own groups. Shortly after that he moved to Bologna, Italy, and began performing at festivals around the world with small groups, including Stone Alliance, a trio with Mr. Perla and Mr. Alias.
Steven Mark Grossman was born on Jan. 18, 1951, in Brooklyn to Irving and Rosalind (Lippman) Grossman. His mother was an amateur pianist and jazz enthusiast; his father was an executive at RCA in Manhattan and became president of the audio equipment company KLH.
When Mr. Grossman was a teenager, his father accepted a new job with RCA, and the family moved from Plainview, N.Y., on Long Island, to a suburb of Pittsburgh. Steven, who had begun playing alto saxophone at 8, formed a quintet called the Uniques with his trumpet-playing older brother, Hal. The group performed at the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival. (Hal died in 2006.)
After five years in Pennsylvania, the family returned to Long Island. Mr. Grossman took private saxophone lessons with Joseph Allard, a teacher at Juilliard, while attending Bethpage High School, and Mr. Allard coordinated with the high school so that Steven could graduate early and begin his studies at Juilliard.
Mr. Grossman mostly performed in Europe later in life. He returned to Long Island a few years ago and stopped performing for health reasons.
He released more than two dozen albums as a leader, many of them for the French label Dreyfus Jazz, and though he never became as well known as some of his contemporaries, he was held in high esteem.
“He definitely had a way of playing that was unique,” Mr. Liebman, his fellow saxophonist said in 2012. “He was the best of all of us.”
In 2009, Mr. Grossman performed at Jazz Standard in Manhattan to enthusiastic crowds. It was his first New York appearance in nearly 15 years.
“It’s good to be back home,” he said one night as he left the stage.
Source: Music - nytimes.com
