Larry Grenadier

Jazz double bassist Larry Grenadier has built an expansive body of work with many of the genre's most influential musicians. Over the course of a performing and recording career that spans four decades, he's earned a reputation for a detailed, fluid rhythmic sensibility. His playing is instantly recognizable for its lyric sensitivity, imagination, and curiosity, and a fat, woody tone. These traits have made him an in-demand sideman and valued collaborator in a career that began in the mid-'80s with the album Blues for Red as a member of <a href="spotify:artist:0kJTaYtwAEZ0YY4m412ClC">Larry Vuckovich</a>'s quartet with <a href="spotify:artist:6iRat96avb9tai5DCUZ7qf">Charles McPherson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5ioiWrUG3Eyd87RqFMbewh">Dusko Goykovich</a>. Before entering his long partnership with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:2vI9KFm0fwSfPrpEgOeIbq">Brad Mehldau</a>'s celebrated trio in 1993, he played on tours and recordings with guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:7a7Vs88vzOcmHh4GOpUEJJ">Wolfgang Muthspiel</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3zX0EMvB00JzxnRi5EIICP">Mike Stern</a>, and keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:4DiYTwAuikGm7QAORQuS5D">Tom Coster</a>; he also played on half of <a href="spotify:artist:336vr2M3Va0FjyvB55lJEd">D'Angelo</a>'s debut album, Brown Sugar. During the first decade of the new century he worked primarily with <a href="spotify:artist:2vI9KFm0fwSfPrpEgOeIbq">Mehldau</a> and in a trio led by <a href="spotify:artist:3t58jfUhoMLYVO14XaUFLA">Pat Metheny</a>, but also played key support roles on early dates by pianists <a href="spotify:artist:6o9XvN8S83IlUqiDA4XIqD">Chihiro Yamanaka</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:44tlY36xv9Sb0e7Jm1y5LC">Akiko Grace</a>. He is one of jazz's most sought-after sidemen; his diverse credits include work with <a href="spotify:artist:4VIPZJwfn4EGbJxYVHJ0WX">Paul Motian</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0NLlZlYs28ClkYXasvqmjy">Enrico Rava</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7wm1h5i4ackDo9yhGUGuqv">Jamie Saft</a>, and the <a href="spotify:artist:3EBdRSdPBWmqkJUx9DEPY7">Fly Trio</a> -- the collective he formed with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:36kfddkWcVc6XrzNN9BsTP">Mark Turner</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:76q6tJ5SRqReZwwCfdzr4I">Jeff Ballard</a>. Grenadier's intuitive sensitivity has made him a natural accompanist for singers as well, including <a href="spotify:artist:18mhw0488pxClZ9KTfEWfC">Rebecca Martin</a> (his life and creative partner), <a href="spotify:artist:6DlY4cWd9bU4huCgoqQ665">Monica Borzym</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19GI8I4UhSpBl8Y9XpKyT4">Sophie Milman</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1msbMvypqmtVmwAOlW6Xtg">Ariel Pocock</a>. In recent years he has played on recordings by trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:0NSO0g40h9CTj13hKPskeb">Ibrahim Maalouf</a>, formed and recorded an album with jazz supergroup Hudson, and continued working with <a href="spotify:artist:2vI9KFm0fwSfPrpEgOeIbq">Mehldau</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7a7Vs88vzOcmHh4GOpUEJJ">Muthspiel</a>.

Grenadier was born into an intensely musical family in San Francisco on February 6, 1966. He took up trumpet -- the same instrument played by his father, Albert, who taught him to read music and gave him his first lessons. A year later, he was given his first electric bass, which allowed him to play in a covers trio alongside his brothers Steve and <a href="spotify:artist:187Do3cdDjr0UdWdbX4TYG">Phil Grenadier</a>. At 12, after witnessing a live performance by bassist <a href="spotify:artist:0SvD7DL5CQTbcrMtns1US8">Ray Brown</a>, he began exploring the work of such fabled bassists as <a href="spotify:artist:1W8TbFzNS15VwsempfY12H">Charles Mingus</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0M1UOBJZ9tcKJbrbnVlHZG">Paul Chambers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4NWHLPe11EOyvjbxXprtzK">Wilbur Ware</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3DuKJapiJ2AUvoIJq1ZJFb">Oscar Pettiford</a>. By age 16, he was working as a professional with various members of his hometown's jazz scene, and backing top-tier performers passing through San Francisco including <a href="spotify:artist:52cM6vrM4MJ8g4H7Ibo5fZ">Johnny Griffin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3uO6HG2JwyP744sg4PMmg5">Bobby Hutcherson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4L9xEztn5PKQIO5WnI5W3u">Art Farmer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:65HhcbtTjbjB81u37nzaeP">Frank Morgan</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0KyolDFb1RjJQb4qXZKCqo">Toots Thielemans</a>. Most had been introduced to him by pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0kJTaYtwAEZ0YY4m412ClC">Vuckovich</a>, in whose group he also played.

Grenadier attended Stanford University and graduated with a degree in English literature in 1989. Afterward, he moved to Boston to work with <a href="spotify:artist:4iovNkf44dsELmo3E7XSKX">Gary Burton</a>'s band and toured with him for nearly two years, then relocated to New York City, where he was able to gain experience on the bandstand and by touring with <a href="spotify:artist:3BG0nwVh3Gc7cuT4XdsLtt">Joe Henderson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a>, as well as playing in <a href="spotify:artist:6HB1MchEEMg40EisSJuenZ">Betty Carter</a>'s band. After joining <a href="spotify:artist:2vI9KFm0fwSfPrpEgOeIbq">Mehldau</a>'s trio in 1993 and touring and recording with <a href="spotify:artist:3t58jfUhoMLYVO14XaUFLA">Metheny</a>, he began a decade-long tenure with <a href="spotify:artist:4VIPZJwfn4EGbJxYVHJ0WX">Paul Motian</a>, and subsequently played with <a href="spotify:artist:6FmHMrX0jETx6WNGzyZKRs">Billy Higgins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0GC1oqEWpiAjfE7jm5LQO5">Charles Lloyd</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:14RXohtx6NiBGFTW8IdmAK">John Scofield</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3uaHfXYx9Fh4HjqMbrWn5S">Joshua Redman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0nXwIc4NAbu2K881ealRDu">Brian Blade</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:753L7PG3yQoWm59XUZ7ruK">David Sanchez</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4hdVPbHhsWAn2XTXVRJoxB">Chris Potter</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6nPiCm3jwXHrOsMbTDoc4E">Danilo Perez</a>, to name a few.

Grenadier's membership in the <a href="spotify:artist:3EBdRSdPBWmqkJUx9DEPY7">Fly</a> trio with longtime friends <a href="spotify:artist:76q6tJ5SRqReZwwCfdzr4I">Ballard</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:36kfddkWcVc6XrzNN9BsTP">Turner</a> has resulted in three critically acclaimed albums, starting with a self-titled effort in 2004, followed by 2009's Sky & Country and 2016's Year of the Snake. He also tours and records with <a href="spotify:artist:18mhw0488pxClZ9KTfEWfC">Martin</a>. In early 2017, Grenadier joined <a href="spotify:artist:14RXohtx6NiBGFTW8IdmAK">Scofield</a> and keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:46IQ7Q0jkW6dW0l4e15FFD">John Medeski</a> in <a href="spotify:artist:7rDjbKTLlpNYJRWMm7QVxU">Jack DeJohnette</a>'s quartet Hudson. They issued their self-titled debut in June for the occasion of <a href="spotify:artist:7rDjbKTLlpNYJRWMm7QVxU">DeJohnette</a>'s 75th birthday, and followed it with a tour.

In February 2019, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM+Records%22">ECM Records</a> issued Grenadier's first album of bass solos -- a label tradition. Titled The Gleaners, it presents originals by the bassist alongside readings of pieces by <a href="spotify:artist:1YuknfkSYTTbolRpwZBOv4">George Gershwin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4VIPZJwfn4EGbJxYVHJ0WX">Motian</a>, as well as a pair of works written especially for him by <a href="spotify:artist:7a7Vs88vzOcmHh4GOpUEJJ">Muthspiel</a>. Grenadier also included an instrumental interpretation of a song by <a href="spotify:artist:18mhw0488pxClZ9KTfEWfC">Martin</a>. ~ Al Campbell, Rovi