NOON30: Pasquale Grasso Trio
A Faircloth Jazz Series Performance
Born in Italy and now based in New York, Pasquale Grasso has developed an astounding technique and concept informed not by jazz guitarists so much as by bebop pioneers like Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as the classical-guitar tradition. The sparkling, immaculately balanced tone; the tasteful tinges of stride and boogie-woogie rhythm; the stunning single-note lines that connect his equally striking use of chordal harmony—for Grasso, great solo arranging also evokes Art Tatum. Many serious guitar heads have been hip to Grasso for a while now, particularly after he won the 2015 Wes Montgomery International Guitar Competition. SMF audiences got to see him perform in 2022 with the incomparable young jazz singer Samara Joy, with whom he continues to perform. This is Pasquale Grasso’s SMF debut as a bandleader.
“...the most significant new guy I’ve heard in many, many years.” -PAT METHENY IN VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE
Born in Italy and now based in New York, Pasquale Grasso has developed an astounding technique and concept informed not by jazz guitarists so much as by bebop pioneers like Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as the classical-guitar tradition. The sparkling, immaculately balanced tone; the tasteful tinges of stride and boogie-woogie rhythm; the stunning single-note lines that connect his equally striking use of chordal harmony—for Grasso, great solo arranging also evokes Art Tatum. Many serious guitar heads have been hip to Grasso for a while now, particularly after he won the 2015 Wes Montgomery International Guitar Competition. SMF audiences got to see him perform in 2022 with the incomparable young jazz singer Samara Joy, with whom he continues to perform. This is Pasquale Grasso’s SMF debut as a bandleader.
“...the most significant new guy I’ve heard in many, many years.” -PAT METHENY IN VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE
