What a marvelous debut this is for thirty-year-old vibraphonist Gerry Grosz, a native New Yorker who now makes his home in San Francisco. If there were more variation in tempo it would be almost perfect. As it is, Grosz lopes easily through ten of his original compositions in what he calls his "doctoral dissertation from the University of Jazz," effectively accompanied by Lewis, Metcalf, and Moore. Does he ace the exam? Absolutely, and with honors. Grosz, who studied under the Jay Hoggard, sounds much like his mentor with dashes of other seasoned players such as Gary Burton and Peter Appleyard tossed into the mix as well. He uses the four-mallet technique to draw forth a resonant, always agreeable sound from his instrument. Grosz's improvisations, while neither groundbreaking nor breathtaking, are consistently melodic and pleasing to te ear, which is true also of his compositions.

Grosz relates the story of how each of the runes was named ("Chicken and Waffles," "Balloon Ballet," "Avocado Blues," and so on) which we won't go into here. The set's lone ballad, on the other hand, is titled simply "Ballad." Grosz's decision to include Lewis in the rhythm section was inspired, as his seven-string guitar lends weight and momentum to the generally easygoing session. Glenn playes flute on two numbers ("Secret No More," "Avocado Blues") and harmonica player Masterson appears on the closer, "Velho Novo" (in Portuguese, "the new old").

Now that he has graduated, we hope to hear much more from Gerry Grosz.

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