Marty Grosz

One of jazz music's great comedians (his spontaneous monologues are often hilarious), Marty Grosz is a brilliant acoustic guitarist whose chordal solos bring back the sound of <a href="spotify:artist:0KL26rUVFAqUcfnXbJRksT">Carl Kress</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:56yeY09668gasaayysXiS5">Dick McDonough</a> of the 1930s, while his vocals are very much in the <a href="spotify:artist:0DYWCXTkNqGFZIf67SrWEa">Fats Waller</a> tradition. It took Grosz a long time to get some visibility. He grew up in New York, attended Columbia University, and in 1951 led a Dixieland band with <a href="spotify:artist:66j6SyuVGgniO3K4PWdLoR">Dick Wellstood</a> that was unrecorded. Based in Chicago, Grosz did record with Dave Remington, <a href="spotify:artist:7B2GLsoPPGTRUeNpJ6VbL3">Art Hodes</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6VeTIJi6Dlx8ywPfIwqALY">Albert Nicholas</a> in the 1950s; led sessions of his own in 1957 and 1959 for Riverside and Audio Fidelity; and tried his best to coax <a href="spotify:artist:46Oxwha8XISOSTpE1bSNgQ">Jabbo Smith</a> out of retirement (some of their rehearsals were later released on LP), but was pretty obscure until he joined <a href="spotify:artist:6GpW1fX7HifK7x5ZRasiQZ">Soprano Summit</a> (1975-1979). After that association ended, Grosz became a busy freelancer on the classic jazz scene, playing with <a href="spotify:artist:2IVvGkjtEzq7H5Fb2rp0bl">Dick Sudhalter</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4MjsDRqH9gQDbsWqR7PRmA">Joe Muryani</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:66j6SyuVGgniO3K4PWdLoR">Dick Wellstood</a> in the Classic Jazz Quartet, and later heading <a href="spotify:artist:5ENdsJ7eVdYshQtx592Izf">the Orphan Newsboys</a>, a superb quartet that also includes <a href="spotify:artist:7E3UiTqJ4xc7VOdNFmwNhi">Peter Ecklund</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0oPMW9GPyDmrhlQx1ZxfuK">Bobby Gordon</a>, and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5bQEjfrwsAPa0d9PaPkXvn">Greg Cohen</a>. Marty Grosz, a unique personality, has recorded several delightful sets for Jazzology and Stomp Off. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi