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***1/2 The Steve Grover Quartet, featuring Brad Terry

REMEMBER

(Invisible Music)

If you ever have the pleasure to meet Brad Terry, you’ll probably find him extolling the merits of the two Polish jazz prodigies he has living with him, or railing against cigarette ads in Time magazine. Either way, he’ll wind up laughing and poking you in the side until you crack up, too. It’s this infectious thrill for life that Steve Grover so expertly captures in the nine songs he has composed for Remember. With his sunny outlook, and years of wisdom, Terry’s clarinet is not the flashy, rapid-fire display of a Benny Goodman. Rather it is a supple, pure tone, with smooth runs up and down the scale like water falling over steps. The beautiful interplay between Terry’s clarinet and Grover-veteran Frank Carlberg’s piano on “The Seventh String,” alternately in sync then moving to a sort of call and response, is exquisite and an inspired use of the instruments. Throughout the disc, these musicians exude a warmth for and understanding of each other that controls the mood of the music. From the opening waltz, “Beginning Again,” where Terry’s languid breaks recall strolling through crowded Manhattan streets on a bright fall afternoon, to the drum breaks on “Blues for the Bridge” that bring to mind Grover’s optimistic version of the military drum roll, the theme is a constant exuberance meted with the wisdom of past struggles. Ironically, the most melancholy of the pieces, “Theresa Minor,” features a bass solo by the young Chris Van Voorst Van Beest, whose improvisation is hungry and searching in contrast to Grover’s sophisticated confidence. With Remember, Steve Grover has crafted a very personal and very enjoyable album.

— Sam Pfeifle