Album Notes

The Steve Grover Quintet
Flying

Trent Austin, trumpet; Jason St. Pierre, alto saxophone (track #3); David Wells, tenor saxophone; Tony Gaboury, guitar; Chris Van Voorst Van Beest, bass; Steve Grover, drums

The Steve Grover Quintet presents Flying, a new CD with jazz interpretations of Beatles material. Drummer and award-winning composer Steve Grover is the guiding musician behind “Flying”, assembling an ensemble of some of Maine’s finest jazz musicians to perform his arrangements. Material ranges from some of the earliest recordings in The Beatles canon such as “P.S. I Love You”; through the Beatlemania period of ’64-’65 with songs like “Things We Said Today”, “I’m Only Sleeping”, “Norwegian Wood”, and the iconic ballad “Yesterday”; the psychedelic-era gem “Tomorrow Never Knows”; the late period masterpiece “Come Together”; and the little known Beatles instrumental “Flying”, from the Magical Mystery Tour album. The album represents something of a departure for Grover, whose previous albums have largely featured original material. Yet the mood of the music on “Flying” is established by Grover’s jazz-centric harmonies and small-group arrangements, as well as improvised solos and interplay by the band, insuring that the sound of each tune is imbued with a personal contemporary jazz feeling. All in all, “Flying” features intriguing jazz interpretations of some of the greatest songs from the most influential pop band of all time.