Don Grolnick: “Hearts and Numbers”
featuring Michael Brecker

(Art of Life AL1042-2)

MP3 Digital Downloads | About the Music | Selected Quotations

Don Grolnick: piano, synthesizer, fender rhodes Michael Brecker: tenor saxophone Hiram Bullock: guitar Clifford Carter: synthesizer programming Peter Erskine: drums, cymbals Steve Jordan: drums Tom Kennedy: acoustic bass Will Lee: bass Bob Mann: guitar Marcus Miller: bass Jeff Mironov: guitar CD $9.99 To purchase this CD using any major credit card, please click the "Checkout with Amazon" button below. To purchase this CD using PayPal, please click the "PayPal - Add To Cart" button below.

Pointing at the Moon (Listen to MP3 sample) More Pointing (Listen to MP3 sample) Pools (Listen to MP3 sample) Regrets (Listen to MP3 sample) The Four Sleepers (Listen to MP3 sample) Human Bites (Listen to MP3 sample) Act Natural (Listen to MP3 sample) Hearts and Numbers (Listen to MP3 sample)

MP3 Digital Downloads {top}

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About the Music {top}

Art of Life Records is pleased to present the CD reissue of pianist and composer Don Grolnick's first solo album, "Hearts and Numbers - featuring Michael Brecker", which was originally recorded and released in 1985 on Hip Pocket Records and has been out of print for over twenty years. Featuring saxophonist Michael Brecker, guitarist Hiram Bullock, synthesizer programmer Clifford Carter, drummer Peter Erskine, drummer Steve Jordan, bassist Tom Kennedy, bassist Will Lee, guitarist Bob Mann, bassist Marcus Miller and guitarist Jeff Mironov. The album features some of Don's finest compositions including "Pointing at the Moon", "Pools", "The Four Sleepers" and "Hearts and Numbers". All songs are composed and arranged by Don Grolnick. 24-bit digital mastering by Paul G. Kohler at Art of Life Studios in Ridgeland, South Carolina in November 2010.

Don Grolnick was a subtle and rather underrated pianist throughout his career but his flexibility and talents were well known to his fellow musicians. Grolnick played in rock bands while a teenager but was always interested in Jazz. He worked in the early fusion group Dreams (1969-1971), the Brecker Brothers (starting in 1975) and in the early '80s with Steps Ahead. He has long been a busy session musician often utilized by pop singers. Don eventually worked on hundreds of recordings with artists like Linda Ronstadt, Steely Dan and Bonnie Raitt. In 1974 he began what was to become a long musical partnership with James Taylor. In the 1980s, Grolnick appeared in many settings including recordings with Joe Farrell, George Benson, Peter Erskine, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Mike Stern and the Bob Mintzer Big Band. Don Grolnick is heard at his best on his 1985 debut, "Hearts and Numbers - featuring Michael Brecker" (remastered and reissued in 2010 on Art of Life Records), and on his two Blue Note albums, which have been reissued as a double-CD set. Don Grolnick was a very talented pianist and composer whose death in 1996 at the age of 48 from cancer was a major loss.

Selected Quotations {top}

"Don was my musical mentor, my trusted confidante and my great friend. I turned to him for musical opinions because he had a marvelous ability to listen and determine what made music great. He profoundly influenced the way I listen to, play and write music." - Michael Brecker