On the eleventh day of November 2022, as the streets of Cologne pulsed with the unbridled chaos of carnival’s symbolic kickoff, a different kind of magic was brewing inside the King Georg jazz club.
Here, Muriel Grossmann and her quartet wove a tapestry of sound so vivid and transformative that the room seemed to levitate. While the carnival’s raucous echoes softened to a distant murmur, the club became an otherworldly refuge—a sonic island adrift on seas of groove, mystery, and transcendent vibration.
Under the glow of subdued lights amidst an intimate atmosphere, the evening shimmered with spiritual resonance and a sense of infinite musical possibility.
Muriel Grossmann, the Ibiza-based saxophonist hailed as one of the most intriguing voices in European jazz, led the charge. With her unmistakable alchemy of modal jazz, blues, and spiritual soundscapes, Grossmann has built a reputation that stretches across the globe.
Her albums—Golden Flute, Reverence, Quiet Earth, and Universal Code—are revered as pathways into a deeper musical consciousness. Born in Austria and rooted in Vienna’s fertile jazz scene, Grossmann’s journey has been one of continual evolution, her music imbued with the spirit of trailblazers like John and Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.
The performance at King Georg, now immortalized as the quartet’s first live album, is an odyssey. Alongside the dexterous Radomir Milojkovic on guitar, the smoldering Hammond organ of Abel Boquera, and the dynamic rhythms of Uros Stamenkovic on drums, Grossmann crafts a soundscape that feels both ancient and futuristic.
Unlike the quartet’s previous studio recordings, steeped in modal jazz from 2018 to 2022, this live set veers boldly into uncharted territory—a fusion of psychedelia, blues, and raw, moody expansiveness. The result is a sonic storm that’s meditative yet thunderous, contemplative yet electrifying.
This release also heralds the birth of a new venture: Cologne’s Power House Records. After a string of acclaimed studio albums on Estonia’s RR Gems, a compilation with Britain’s Jazzman Records, and a feature on Jack White’s Detroit-based Third Man Records, Grossmann’s MGQ live at King Georg becomes an indispensable entry in the canon of live jazz recordings.
It’s a marker, a milestone, and a manifesto—a testament to the quartet’s fearless exploration of the cosmic boundaries of jazz.
For those fortunate enough to have been there, it wasn’t just a concert but a journey. For the rest of us, the live album offers a chance to step into that moment, where the sound wasn’t just heard but felt, tasted, and seen—like light refracted through the prism of the soul.
Pre-order MGQ live im King Georg, Köln by Muriel Grossman on Bandcamp here.
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