Pasquale Grasso

We are proud to release the third installment of guitar virtuoso Pasquale Grasso’s digital only EP series: Solo Monk. The series – which began with Solo Standards, Vol. 1 and Solo Ballads, Vol. 1 earlier this year – showcases him in the solo guitar format, where his intensive studies of both the masters of bebop and classical guitar technique meld into […]
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We are proud to release the third installment of guitar virtuoso Pasquale Grasso’s digital only EP series: Solo Monk. The series – which began with Solo Standards, Vol. 1 and Solo Ballads, Vol. 1 earlier this year – showcases him in the solo guitar format, where his intensive studies of both the masters of bebop and classical guitar technique meld into a signature mastery that is, remarkably, at once unprecedented and evocative. The approach of the releases echoes the changing landscape in the industry, allowing a prolific recording artist to release a multitude of material over the course of an extended period of time.

Also making its debut today is Pasquale Grasso’s new video for “’Round Midnight”.

As with most of his musical passions, Grasso became a Monk convert while still a child, after his father played him a record—in this case The Unique Thelonious Monk, a 1956 trio session featuring Oscar Pettiford and Art Blakey. Monk’s playing—the bluesy, propulsive architecture of his solos, the percussive stomp of his chording—reminded the young guitarist of one of his biggest heroes (and rare six-string influences), Charlie Christian. Since then, Grasso has found in Monk’s music an endless store of harmonic and rhythmic challenges, which he’s more than happy to meet here on “Epistrophy,” “’Round Midnight,” “Ruby, My Dear,” “Criss Cross” and “Off Minor.” “There isn’t a lot more to say,” Grasso admits, chuckling. “It’s just genius music.”