V16, Jerry Granelli’s genre-bending two-guitar band, was also an expression of his Buddhist practice. As he said at the time of Vancouver ’08 release in 2009, “Since I encountered Buddhism, and particularly Trungpa Rinpoche (who you know was an artist, and there’s a series of his teachings called Dharma Art), there’s been this whole idea of how an artist doesn’t pollute, that the art is a way of waking people up and not laying trips on them. That somehow it’s about getting it down to this simple task orientation of serving the music, and trying not to govern the audience’s experience, letting everyone have their own experience of what they’re hearing, including hating it. That the music is a reflection in some sense of the musician’s mind, the openness that they might be experiencing in that moment.”
And the openness relates to the way this 16-string organism functioned: “It’s about people who are willing to work in this collective, spontaneous, orchestral way. Guitars and electric bass are fantastic for this because they have so many different sonic aspects. A lot of it has to do with the pedals, and also for example the way Tronzo prepares the guitar, and in this band the totally distinct sound of the two guitars, plus J [Jerry’s son J. Anthony] on bass has his effects too – which definitely affects the timbres that I then apply with the drums, as well as the volume at which I can play. The timbres and electricity of the guitars provide a tremendous access for me and for the music.”
J. Anthony observed that “everyone in the band has a very developed sense of style and the modalities of how they like to play. It would be very easy for each of us to say, ‘Hey this is how I do it, it works, so don’t mess with it,’ but that has never happened. Consequently, the band has always had to move forward.” Jerry provided an example of this ongoing development: “Any moment anything can happen in terms of the focus shifting, and I think that all of the compositions reflect that this time. There’s almost a different role for each instrument in every composition. In J. Anthony’s ‘Planting’ the drums are the main soloist; in Tronzo’s ‘The Truth’ he and I are basically the rhythm players, the bass is the melody instrument. It’s a way of composing for the instruments that’s less predictable, and much more open or vast – it has a bigger view.” J. added: “My goal is to get to the atomic level of music, the most fundamental level. Composing for the band is great because I know that everyone’s musicianship and instincts will tease out the meaning in the notes – I always want to hear clarity of the parts, the strings all sounding as one, the rub of dissonance and the openness of the resolution. I like to be able to chew on the music for a while.”
Jerry: “There’s a lot of musical scholarship in this band — the understanding of what it takes to make something sound like it’s a real experience, that if it grooves it really grooves. I don’t think I’d be playing in V16 if it wasn’t so challenging and exciting. To hear the CD or DVD and go, how the hell did I do that, and how the hell can I ever do that again? — that’s really great.”
Jerry Granelli- drums
David Tronzo- electric slide guitar
Christian Kögel- electric guitar
J. Anthony Granelli- electric bass
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 00:59:30
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | SGLSA15772 |
| Qualities | |
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| Original Recording Format | |
| Instruments | Electric guitar, Electric slide guitar, Drums, Electric bass |
| Release Date | March 17, 2025 |
Press reviews
All About Jazz
“Over 40-plus years as an innovative performer and renowned educator, drummer Jerry Granelli has shown an affinity for the sonic possibilities of paired electric guitars. Since 2003, he’s explored this interest in V16….Vancouver ’08, their third release, vividly captures their unique sound world—referencing jazz, blues and psychedelic rock, but not beholden to these traditions. The group has forged a collective identity with all members contributing compositions and arrangements specifically for it. The approach is also egalitarian: any instrument can, and likely will, take the melodic lead or solo, before transitioning to creative support—blurring the distinction….The strings move together for the formal introduction of Kogel’s “Wellfare.” When drums enter, the piece swells with poignancy before receding to Kogel’s gentle guitar conclusion, which segues to his balladic duet with bass on “Udon Waltz.” The songs are unhurried and the musicians use the slow-to-mid tempos to probe the compositions fully. Tronzo’s “Unnamed” has a smoldering intensity, his ominous repeating phrase playing a rhythmic role, before his twisted slide runs open the piece for freer collective improv. Conversely, “Steel Eyed Blues” opens with swirling strings until a bass line emerges, forming a groove with drums that elicits a quasi-reggae vamp from Tronzo and Kogel’s echoed and delayed retorts….V16 is a reflection of Granelli, expressing a summation of his life in music.”
All About Jazz
“Guitarists Christian Kogel and especially David Tronzo are wizards of the six string….Slide guitarist Tronzo applies not only the traditional steel and glass to his axe, but also “found” slides like a plastic pill bottle and small aluminum vegetable can. He dampens his strings by lodging a cork between the fifth and sixth and the first and second strings, while wedging in a chopstick to use as a whammy bar….J. Anthony Granelli’s bass, far from simply plucking away in the background, hums with an electric sweep or steps up to carry the melody itself.
The jarring “Unnamed” is one of the few tunes in which Granelli’s drums take a central role. And the diversity of his playing on the track—both rhythmically and in terms of percussive color—shows why he is considered to be one of the foremost drummers on the scene today. Still, this is a guitar-lover’s record, with drummer Granelli slyly pulling the warped and buzzing strings.”
Allmusic
“With two electric guitars, electric bass and drums, Jerry Granelli’s V16 project might resemble a rock band more than your standard jazz band, but don’t be fooled: this is a jazz band all the way. Actually, the way they operate, it’s almost more of a jazz organism. Much like Henry Threadgill’s Zooid or Very Very Circus (and Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler before that), this project is dedicated to group improvisation. Which is not to say it’s free jazz: it’s not. There are strong melodies to almost every tune, but it’s never a situation where they play a head and trade solos. The melodies are a launching point for a group sound that ebbs and flows, touching back on the melodies at times but never slavishly bound to them. Christian Kögel and David Tronzo’s rapport is incredible. There are times where it seems one guitar player will complete the other’s thought. There are times where suddenly a unison-played melody appears almost out of nowhere only to resolve into two or three separate tangents. The way the players crawl inside the tunes and work as one is really amazing. It can be difficult to tell who is doing what (besides the drums, of course). Kögel and Tronzo play with both restraint and abandon….It’s a truly egoless group dynamic; they play in service to the tunes not to show off….Group improvisation doesn’t come any better and this sound is unique.”
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