Ibiza is not an anti-jazz island, on the contrary, says Muriel Grossmann. The saxophonist has been living on the Balearic Island for over 17 years — next to the sea, between lemon trees and a chicken coop, far from hectic jazz metropolises of London and New York. A place where she refines her interpretation of the spiritual jazz of the 1960s, decodes it and, as an unknown pioneer of scene greats like Shabaka Hutchings or Kamasi Washington, rewires it in post-Coltrane manner. »Large cities have their advantage, but it also depends on which phase of life you are in«, says Grossmann. Her phase of life does not stem from the speed of the urban and futuristic street canyons, but from the view of the sea, the vegetation and diversity of the island culture. »People live here who like to retreat. That shapes my work.«
Muriel Grossmann was born in Paris in 1971, grew up in Vienna and moved to Barcelona in the early 2000s. »It was great«, she says. »I played a lot, but I wanted to settle down.« In 2004 she was given the opportunity to play a summer residence at Terero Pereyra, one of Ibiza’s venues that permanently closed down since. Grossmann arrived for the summer months — and stayed. Ibiza has provided her with constant work. She could start a family. And of course there are these winters __»where you can sit at the piano or take the horn and the music just flows out.« This flow has begun the moment she arrived at the island. Grossmann meet the jazz pianist Joachim Kühn. He, who once described Ibiza as an anti-jazz island, invited her to his studio, where she ran into musicians like Christian Lillinger, Robert Landfermann and Wolfgang Reisinger — personalities who ride jazz standards like waves and reinforcing Grossmanns own visions.
»The visible is just another area of information for the audible«
Muriel Grossmann
With »Homecoming Reunion«, Muriel Grossmann released her first album back in 2007. Since then, eight more CDs have followed on her Dreamland Records imprint without epic mambo-jambo, but almost exaggeratedly understated via Bandcamp. Only when the Estonian label RR Gems became aware of her music in 2018 and asked her to press »Golden Rule« on vinyl did the search queries skyrocket. »It’s great to work with people who have trust and a deep connection to our music to do things according to my vision and to go beyond it«, says Grossmann. And success proves her right: British magazine UK Vibe voted the record album of the year, Gilles Peterson promoted her music and eventually, people started to dig into her back catalog.
You can find the Vinyl records of Muriel Grossmann in the [HHV Records webshop](https://www.hhv.de/shop/de/muriel-grossmann-jazz-fusion/i:A158974D2N48S6U9.)
