Mondo Bizarre Magazine: Solilóquios - Larry Grenadier (double bass), Porto, 19.01.2020.

Monday 20 January 2020

Solilóquios - Larry Grenadier (double bass), Porto, 19.01.2020.


		Larry Grenadier's double bass © Raquel Pinheiro

words: Raquel Pinheiro; photos: Manuela Matos Monteiro & Raquel Pinheiro

Solilóquios, a concert evening of mostly solos, is celebrating its third anniversary. The events are held in a beautiful location, a third floor yoga studio in downtown Porto.

What's in a double bass? Judging by Larry Grenadier's performance, a lot. Those like myself, who like jazz, but are not experts may be surprised by how versatile and varied a single instrument can be.

Like The Gleaners, the album from where most of songs played tonight come from, the opening was with Oceanic. Soon we were at Vineland, written by Larry in his back porch, on an acoustic bass guitar. And here we were no longer in Kansas, sorry, Porto. And that were drums, right? And did I just hear a guitar? An electrical one, I mean. Most surely there is a full band playing. No, it was just Larry playing pizzicato. Was it? Indeed it was. And how marvellous and ingenious the whole thing was.

Gone Like The Season, written by Grenadier's wife Rebecca Martin, Compassion/The Owl of Craniston, a medley of John Coltrane'e and Paul Motian' themes, George Gershwin's My Man's Gone Now (from Porgy and Bess) and The Gleaner, all from the album, took us on several different journeys. One moment we were somewhere inside a road movie, the next in the smoke filled basement of a 1920s New York jazz club.

And then, Rebecca Martin sang a few Songs, including Brother Can You Spare a Dime, written in 1930 by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg and Jay Gorney. It was an enchanting, hearty evening to warm a cold Winter's night.