Name: Muriel Grossmann
Occupation: Saxophonist, improviser, composer
Nationality: Austrian
Current release: Muriel Grossmann is one of the artists appearing at the XJAZZ! 2024 festival in Berlin. For tickets, go here.

Other acts at the festival include Nala Sinephro, Shabaka, Bill Frisell, Bex Burch of Vula Viel, Portico Quartet, Sasha Berliner, Nubiyan Twist, Orchestra Baobab, Nduduzu Nakhathini, Sebastian Studnitzky and many more.

[Read our Bex Burch interview]
[Read our Vula Viel interview]
[Read our Portico Quartet interview]
[Read our Nubiyan Twist interview]
[Read our Sebastian Studnitzky interview]

If you enjoyed this Muriel Grossmann interview and would like to know more about her music and upcoming live performances, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



How, would you say are your live performances and your recording projects connected at the moment? How do they mutually influence and feed off each other?

They are always connected, they feed off each other in constant movement, transformation and change. Sometimes recording sessions and sometimes concerts are the originators of performances, structures, concepts, forms or sounds. By the time I finished composing the piece, both aspects had breathed life into the music.

We just finished mastering the new album that will be released this fall, which is a natural continuation of our 2023 album Devotion. After recording Devotion, we had the opportunity to play a series of live shows, which helped us develop our sound as a band and my understanding of what would be the best direction for the new record, where the band would shine in the brightest light. My greatest joy is playing live with these great musicians, which is a truly inspiring and heartfelt thing.

In as far as you have any experience or insights, what's your view of the Berlin jazz scene?

As far as I can follow what is going on, I do it through musicians I know or have worked with, like the masterful drummer Christian Lillinger. We had a band and recorded two albums together.



The Berlin scene is a vibrant, very productive scene. I was particularly interested in the Jazz-Werkstatt recording sessions. A lot of good musicians and music came out of that.

Music has become a lot more global and incorporating elements from other parts of the world or the musical spectrum is commonplace. Do you still think there are city scenes with a distinct, unique sound? What holds these communities together?

The active live venues hold a jazz scene together. Although all musicians can draw from many global influences, each city retains its own unique sound, composed by the many active members.

Jazz from Berlin sounds very different from jazz from Vienna, Paris, Chicago or Helsinki …

What does the term jazz mean today, would you say?

Jazz today is a very broad field, hard to define. Whatever you or people want it to mean ... it means different things to different musicians, professionals and fans.

What it means to me is what I try to convey through my records, concerts and playing. For some people it means freedom, for others it means swinging rhythm and lots of blues. For others it means experimentation.

You can find all these elements in the history of jazz. Just like you can find all kinds of characters that have played it.

The XJAZZ! Festival is closely connected to the Analogue Foundation, which emphasises the role of analogue gear and music-making. Do you have any thoughts on this and the role of “mistakes” (as opposed to the “cleanness” and “perfection” of digital) in music?

As technology changes, so do the music and the musicians. I prefer it when music is direct, when it has urgency and commitment. I grew up in the analog world, the music was no different, jazz music and the sound of the 50s, 60s and 70s is something I really like. It is a warm, bassy, wooden, round sound, especially music on vinyl is something I prefer.

The moment of the concert, the moment of the recording, that is where the music happens, but it is really great that this moment can be captured and transmitted through many generations.

Every performance is different, every recording is special. I like to use all my possibilities to offer music that I think is transformative for my listeners.