Chapel Performance Space
Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N
$10 general admission (buy tickets online)

The Tony Grasso Saxophone? Quartet! has always been a surprising unit – after all, among its three saxophones is one trumpet: Grasso’s. After nine years of honing its sound, the quartet is stunning. He and his band mates have honed a sizzlingly-tight sound in which Grasso’s compositions serve as springboards to free improvisation. But listeners will often be hard-pressed to determine where composition ends and improvisation begins.

That effect stems in good part from the extraordinary precision and cohesion of the band, each of whose members has a long history in local jazz.

The quartet has two self-produced albums that present compositions drawing from jazz and classical-music influences, at times dissonantly or humorously but always captivatingly.

Grasso says: “Jazz music has always been inspired by many things – the events of the times, other artists, personalities the artist knows or knows about, nature, and places traveled. The possibilities are endless. In the second century of American jazz the scope has been broadened because of world travel. New music, language, and cultures that are now easily accessible and can’t help but seep into the creative efforts of musicians.”

-- Peter Monaghan

In the summer of 2006, Earshot Jazz began a comprehensive project entitled “Jazz: The Second Century,” an initiative intended to address jazz’s progressive transition into the future. This concert series seeks to bring the discussion into creative motion where it matters most - on the stage, with an attentive audience.