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Lou Grassi

Since the release of his CD PoGressions in 1996 Lou's star has been on the rise. He has subsequently appeared on more than 60 new recordings. His nine CDs as a leader, including six by the PoBand, have established him as one of the most versatile, original, and creative drummers working in this idiom.

Lou Grassi has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of outstanding artists, including Marshall Allen, Billy Bang, Borah Bergman, Rob Brown, Roy Campbell, The Copascetics, Jimmy Garrison, Charles Gayle, Burton Greene, Urbie Green, Gunter Hampel, Johnny Hartman, Guenter Heinz, Fred van Hove, Joseph Jarman, Karl Berger, Sheila Jordan, William Parker, Perry Robinson, Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai and Kenny Wessel among others.

He has toured extensively, performing throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Central America and Russia. He has been a featured artist at numerous international festivals, including The Vision Festival, NYC, The Texaco New York Jazz Festival, NYC, The Rochester Jazz Festival, Rochester, NY, The Rive de Gier International Jazz Festival, France, Festas Lisboa, Portugal, CAMP 99, Germany, The Guelph Jazz Festival, Canada, Festival Frei Improvisierter Music, Germany, The Hurta Cordel International Festival of Improvised Music, Madrid, Spain, the Ad hoc Music Offen Ohren Festival, Munich, Germany, Jazz ao Centro Festival, Coimbra, Portugal, The Klappstuhlfest, der Ort, Wuppertal, Germany and the WIM Festival of Improvised Music in Antwerp, Belgium. Lou has also performed at Banlieues Bleues Festival, Paris, France; Lueneburg Jazz Nights, Germany; The Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, NYC, and The International Dixieland Festival of Dresden, Germany, among others.

Lou Grassi has created original music for more than 15 dance pieces by choreographers including Richard Bull, Carolyn Dorfman, Bill T. Jones, Lois Welk, and Arnie Zane. Lou received funding from Meet the Composer for more than half of these collaborations. He has also been the recipient of grants from The National Endowment of the Arts (1974) and The American Music Center (2002) and he has written on the subject of dance accompaniment for Modern Drummer magazine (August 1984).

Lou Grassi continues to keep one foot firmly planted in traditional and mainstream jazz with the Lou Grassi Jazz Quartet and Quintet, the Dixie Peppers, and as a freelance drummer in New York City.

Lou first accompanied modern dance in 1971 with the Daniel Nagrin Workgroup. In 1973, he worked as resident percussionist for the Dance Department at Brockport State University. Since 1978, He has been on the staff of New Jersey City University as a dance accompanist, and he has been a teaching artist for New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) since 2001.Lou has created original music for more than 15 original dance pieces by choreographers including Richard Bull, Bill T.Jones, Lois Welk, Paul Wilson, and Arnie Zane. Lou received funding from Meet the Composer for these collaborations in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985, and he has written on the subject of dance accompaniment for Modern Drummer magazine (August 1984). Lountinues to teach privately and is available for workshops and clinics.

The Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

Read "In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
January 14, 2022

The fearless improvised legacy of veteran, free bop sax man Mark Whitecage may not hold a prominent place in the immediate lexicon of upstarts and legends, but the man could blow his horn. Whitecage could dice and slice a piece of music, solemn or otherwise, to shreds with his sharp metallic, testosterone tone then reassemble it seamlessly with his long, flowing phrases. So it is fitting and more than welcome that he brings it big time on this final recording ...

Album Review

Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

Read "In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
January 6, 2022

One of the underappreciated veterans of free jazz, Mark Whitecage passed away in March of 2021, leaving a well-established legacy of strong recordings in which his searing yet soulful alto saxophone merged with many of the more visible figures on the scene. Joe McPhee, Anthony Braxton, and Annette Peacock are just a few of the luminaries who partnered with Whitecage over the years. Perhaps his most fruitful period was the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongside the musicians in the ...

Album Review

The Nu Band: In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop

Read "In Memory of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bopshop" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 5, 2022

Multiple reedman Mark Whitecage (1937-2021) may not have enjoyed the profile he deserved, but he was an extraordinary improvisational free-jazz force who recorded prolifically for CIMP Records. Bassist Joe Fonda, a member of Whitecage's Nu Band, enjoyed a forty year musical involvement with the man, and In Memory Of Mark Whitecage: The Nu Band Live At The Bop Shop is Fonda's posthumous tip of the hat to his old running mate. It is a recording bursting with the lifeforce --one ...

Album Review

Lou Grassi: Port Of Call

Read "Port Of Call" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
August 23, 2017

German pianist Klaus Treuheit and American drummer Lou Grassi present a further instalment of an irregular collaboration on the limited edition LP Port Of Call. Treuheit may not be familiar to many outside his homeland, but he maintains an active schedule based around European radio stations and has contributed film music for the likes of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. Currently best known as part of the cooperative Nu Band, Grassi has also lead his own Po Band units in the ...

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Album Review

The Lou Grassi Po Band with Marshall Allen: Live At The Knitting Factory Volume 1

Read "Live At The Knitting Factory Volume 1" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
February 22, 2011

Drummer Lou Grassi, with his progressive jazz and improvisational luminaries, slams matters into high gear during this gutsy 2000 recording, captured at New York City's Knitting Factory. Historically, Grassi is known for his driving passion and prominent leadership, while almost always engaging with superior musicians. Here, the frontline musicians lock horns, via intervallic spikes and scorching dialogues. “RePoZest" presents an evolving vista, commencing with introspective musings between trumpeter Paul Smoker's linear phrasings and flautist Marshall Allen's cosmological lines. ...

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Multiple Reviews

Lou Grassi: Live at The Guelph Festival, The Dope and The Ghost (Live in Vienna) & Shapes and Shadows

by Marc Medwin
January 6, 2008

Marshall Allen/Lou Grassi Live at The Guelph Festival Cadence Jazz 2007 The Nu Band The Dope and The Ghost (Live in Vienna) Not Two 2007 Martin Speicher/Georg Wolf/Lou Grassi Shapes and Shadows Clean Feed 2007

Lou Grassi is one of the few drummers ...

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Album Review

Marshall Allen / Lou Grassi: Live At The Guelph Festival

Read "Live At The Guelph Festival" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
January 4, 2008

Marshall Allen and Lou Grassi make quite a duo. On Live At The Guelph Festival, they play unprepared and unrehearsed music which, due to their skill, has a remarkable degree of coherence. Admittedly, this is free or avant-garde jazz, requiring coherence to be understood within that framework. Allen is currently leading the Sun Ra Arkestra, after both Sun Ra (1993) and John Gilmore (1995) died, while Grassi has become something of the house percussionist at the CIMP ...

Performance / Tour

Lane / Grassi / Whitecage at the Living Theatre, NYC, Mar. 7, 2008

Source: All About Jazz
February 27, 2008

WHO: LANE / GRASSI / WHITECAGE at VISION / RUCMA Series 2008 MARK WHITECAGE - Alto saxophone, clarinet ADAM LANE - Bass LOU GRASSI - Drums, percussion WHEN: Friday, March 7, 2008 at 10:30PM WHERE: The Living Theatre 21 Clinton Street New York, NY 10002 (bet Houston St and Stanton St) F train to Delancey Street or J,M,Z to Essex Street TICKETS: ...
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Music Industry

Mark Whitecage and Lou Grassi at The Pink Pony, NYC 10/26/00

Source: All About Jazz

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Music Industry

MARK WHITECAGE and LOU GRASSI At THE PINK PONY, NYC on Thursday, June 15th at 10PM

Source: All About Jazz

Lou Grassi

Press Quotes

"Grassi, always skilled at incorporating the nuances of his entire kit, turns the fire up and down as needed." Mike Shanley Jazz Times

"Grassi really demonstrates the breadth of his timbral and rhythmic language. Expanding on the innovations of Sunny Murray and Rashied Ali." Marc Medwin All About Jazz New York

"Drummer Lou Grassi's work on the CIMP and Cadence labels has proven to be consistently intriguing - he shows a penchant for setting up collective situations with non-traditional instrumentation that effortlessly ignore boundaries between freedom, composition, and spontaneous collective arrangements. Grassi is careful not to overwhelm the others. His loose drumming delivers a potent, simmering flow that constantly shapes the momentum of the improvisations ." Michael Rosenstein Cadence

Lou Grassi

Press Quotes

"Grassi, always skilled at incorporating the nuances of his entire kit, turns the fire up and down as needed." Mike Shanley Jazz Times

"Grassi really demonstrates the breadth of his timbral and rhythmic language. Expanding on the innovations of Sunny Murray and Rashied Ali." Marc Medwin All About Jazz New York

"And drummers, do check out Lou Grassi, because he is a gem for sure." Dennis Hollingsworth JazzImprov

"Grassi leads the group through a cornucopia of textures and moods... and Grassi's multihanded, Elvin Jones-style drumming makes for a wild ride. The muscularity and melodicism of his drumming come through loud and clear. Once again Grassi, in the best spirit of Duke, Mingus, and Miles, calls forth the best from his mates , and eggs them on, in his percussion as well as in his organizational skill, to unexpected heights. Grassi is, once again, amazingly sensitive and right about what he chooses in the moment. A great drummer ." Robert Spencer All About Jazz

"As always, Grassi, an incredibly dynamic presence, coaxes and fuels the proceedings . . . "

Jay Collins One Final Note

"Grassi is the consummate small group drummer, on top of every nuance, non-intrusive yet immeasurably important to the success of the recording."

Steven Loewy Cadence Magazine

"Grassi is a one man percussive powerhouse able to pound out elemental cadences or just as agilely sculpt complex polyrhythms for his partners to play atop." Derek Taylor All About Jazz

"Grassi is a very talented drummer - he is capable of lifting a tune to a high level of excellence ." Walter Horn Signal To Noise

"Grassi's discography has largely been limited to other CIMP dates, but his ingenuity on the drums screams for other opportunities to record ." Derek Taylor All About Jazz

"Grassi's star is on the rise . . . a mature musician whose only limits on his music are the number of hours in the day that he can devote to his craft." Derek Taylor All About Jazz

"Lou Grassi is one of those few jazz players who is as comfortable with straight ahead bop as he is with ventures into the realm of the totally free . . . Grassi powers the group and the creativity and energy are boundless ." Steven A. Loewy allmusicguidetojazz.com

"Grassi continues to impress , with his unique emphasis on the lower tones, and an unusual ability to sustain solo after solo with finely tuned shades of emotion. Filled with controlled energy, a fluid and sophisticated style, and an uncanny capacity to follow the leader, Grassi is one of the leading exponents of his mode of expression." Steven A. Loewy Cadence

"If the first quality of a leader is to know how to unite the individualities which come together to produce an entity which is greater than the sum of its parts, one could say that in creating the Po Band Lou Grassi has shown that he is one of the first order, and at the same time he is an impeccable percussionist." Marc Chaloin Improjazz (France)

"The ensembles were given drive and body... by the rhythmic steadiness of Lou Grassi on drums". John Wilson The New York Times

"Grassi rolls and undulates like the spiked glossallalia of Milford Graves and the smooth patter of Andrew Cyrille and Sunny Murray . He can work his assorted tom-toms into staggered rolls that go so quickly up and down that which way things are headed is sometimes happily unclear... tireless force and intellect". Andrew Bartlett Cadence

"Ferocious. Hard-hitting. Grassi acts like a circus ringleader presiding over often turbulent group improvisations within structure". Jon Andrews****Downbeat Magazine

"Grassi supplies a very distinct drum style that often resembles the support beneath Ellington's jungle music". Dave McElfresh Jazz Now

"Grassi has an incredible talent for setting up a percussive environment that things can grow in . Like some jazz farmer he piles on a rich texture of fertiliser, creating a mulch for this bumper crop of colour, humour and variety . . . Grassi is as much polyatmosperic as he is polyrhythmic ". Nathan Thompson Opprobrium (New Zealand)

"Grassi provides consistently firm support , and regales both as vivifying drummer and creative soloist". Steven A.Loewy Cadence

"Grassi's propelling, sometimes primitive drumbeats - like heartbeats - collectively and individually enliven". Nancy Ann Lee Jazz Times

"Lou Grassi seems to be able to maintain several unrelated rhythmic streams at once". Bill Bennett Jazz Times

"Lou Grassi's dynamic use of the entire drumkit is perfect..." Larry Nai Jazziz

"Grassi is a perfect leader ... the accomplished percussionist has Vision. Grassi is always there, often as instigator and colorist, but rarely grabbing the limelight". Steven A. Loewy Cadence

"Grassi, a fine drummer with sufficient force to drive a big band, keeps generating polyrhythms that feed the fire". Stuart Broomer Cadence

"(There was a) virtuoso solo by percussionist Lou Grassi, who all but launched his cymbals into orbit". The El Paso Times

"Smoothly flowing free percussion". Milo Fine Cadence

"Lou Grassi's expressiveness transformed the drums from a rhythm instrument to a melody instrument. This was only possible because he brought with him a technique which seemed to know no bounds. Almost unbelievable ". WolfenbuttelZeitung (Germany)

"Grassi is a highly melodic drummer ". Scot Hacker Cadence

"Grassi was consistently excellent ". Chris Kelsey Jazz Now

"Grassi is a strong drummer who takes no prisoners and shows no weakness in any style he chooses to play". R.Romus Jazz Now

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