Artist: Leonard Grenadier


Larry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist. 

At age 12 Grenadier began formal study of the acoustic bass, learning from local jazz bass players Chris Poehlor, Paul Breslin, and Frank Tusa and later classical bassists Michael Burr and Stephen Tramontozzi. At 16, Grenadier had a busy career playing in the San Francisco Bay Area with both local musicians and those traveling through town in need of a bass player. These musicians included Harvey Wainapel, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, Larry Vuckovitch, Eddie Henderson, Bruce Forman, Eddie Marshall, Vince Lateano, George Cables and Donald Bailey, Toots Thielmans, Johnny Griffin, Charles McPherson and Frank Morgan, among others. 

Grenadier graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in English literature. At Stanford, he met Stan Getz, with whom he toured. Grenadier moved to Boston to play with vibraphonist Gary Burton. In 1991, he moved to New York. He continued to collaborate with some of the musicians he had met during his time in Boston, such as Kurt RosenwinkelJoshua RedmanMark Turner, Jorge Rossy, and Chris Cheek.

Others he met for the first time in New York include Bill Stewart, Kevin Hays, Renee Rosnes, Ralph Moore, Billy Drummond, Danilo Perez, David Sánchez, Tom Harrell and Billy Hart. Grenadier continued his association with Joe Henderson, touring with his band which at times included Al Foster, Renee Rosnes and Larry Willis. He also spent a few months during his earlier years in New York playing in Betty Carter's band. 

In the early 1990s, Grenadier first met and played with pianist Brad Mehldau. He joined Mehldau's Trio with drummer Jorge Rossy; together they toured and recorded for more than ten years. Rossy was replaced by drummer Jeff Ballard in 2004. 

Grenadier has worked with guitarist Pat Metheny, with whom he toured as a trio along with drummer Bill Stewart. He credits his experiences touring with Metheny's trio as a significant learning experience. 

Grenadier has also played with John Scofield, Hudson (a collaborative project with Jack DeJohnette, John Medeski and John Scofield), Charles LloydChris PotterBilly HigginsMichael Brecker, and Paul Motian, among many others. 

Grenadier is a member of FLY, a trio which includes drummer Jeff Ballard and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. They have recorded three critically acclaimed albums. He also tours and records with his wife, singer-songwriter Rebecca Martin. A landmark solo bass album The Gleaners was issued by the ECM label in 2019. 

Further information about Leonard Grenadier is found at LarryGrenadier.com.

Photography credit: Hreinn Gudlaugsson, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Grenadier, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).

Larry Grenadier - Lovelair (live)

Leonard Grenadier: Videos

BIMHUIS TV Presents: Bill Stewart Trio feat Larry Grenadier and Walter Smith III

Sebastian Sternal / Larry Grenadier / Jonas Burgwinkel — "All Of You"