Muriel Grossmann: Universal Code

Infectious is a word much maligned of late. What with a worldwide pandemic, the word has come to stand in for other terms such as contagious and transmittable. The word though has another meaning as demonstrated by saxophonist Muriel Grossmann's Universal Code. Infectious can also mean irresistible or compelling in an infectious way. Together with her quartet, Grossman broadcasts her engrossing message as a cross between soul jazz and uplifting spiritual music.

Universal Code contains the Paris-born, Vienna-raised saxophonist now living in Spain with her working quartet with two Serbian-born musicians, guitarist Radomir Milojkovic and drummer Uros Stamenkovic, plus the Spanish Hammond B3 organist Llorenc Barcelo. The quartet is joined on three tracks by Austrian double bassist Gina Schwarz. If we were pressed to characterize the sound, the first impressions might lead us to the recordings of Les McCann and Richard "Groove" Holmes or Hank Mobley and Larry Young, plus early guitar work of George Benson. These influences plus Grossman's penchant for the sound of John Coltrane surface in tracks like the groovy blues-tinged "Post— Meditations" where Grossman doubles on tenor saxophone. The same can be said for "Compassion" where Grossman's tenor is accompanied by marimba, the vibe mixes soul and R&B into a kind of party anthem. The quartet utilizes Barceló's organ for the baselines, except for the three tracks with Schwarz. Her double bass towers over "Transience," "Non-Duality," and "Essence," which allows Barceló to add overtones and colors to the tracks. The blues-drenched "Essence" finds Grossman's soprano saxophone landing on the smoothest of glide paths. Grossman's music adds the term "easily transmissible" to her definition of musically infectious.