Indeed, even if you are listening to Gregoire play for the very first time, there is a certain warmth and familiarity to his music and playing style and come Tuesday October 23rd you can get a chance to see Gregoire perform as part of the PDX Jazz @ Jimmy Mak’s series. Showtime is 8 and 9.30pm. A leader in the ranks of harmonica players, Maret has become one of the most in-demand sidemen in jazz over the past decade.
His versatile playing has led him to perform with everyone from Pat Metheny to Elton John, Prince, and most recently Cassandra Wilson. This past March, Maret brought his signature sound to the forefront with his debut, self-titled solo release. It is quite easy to declare that this CD is good ’till the last drop; the first track “Lucille’s Dream” is enchanting and sets the pace for the tone of the music that follows. Gregoire has quite a few musical giants with him including Cassandra Wilson lending her evocative pipes to a clever remake of “The Man I Love.” Pack your bags and go with Gregoire on “Travels” a track that you can’t help but conjure images of slowing easing your way down the backstreets that are less travelled. It is here that Gregoire’s harmonica style stands tall within a soft and angelic arrangement.
Bassist Marcus Miller appears on “Crepusule Suite – Crepusule”; elsewhere on the CD Gregoire is joined with harmonica legend Toots Thielemans on “O Amor E Ou Meu Pais.” Mark Kibble and Alivin Chea of gospel group Take 6 adds all kinds of goodness in hushed tones on the track “Prayer”, a song that would definitely give you goosebumps. The CD’s closer is Gregoire’s impressive take on Milton Nascimento “Ponte de Areia.” A bit about Gregoire, he grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of a Harlem-born, African-American mother and a Swiss father.
After studying at the prestigious Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève he decided to undertake jazz studies at New York’s New School University. Intending to return to Switzerland and a career as a teacher, Maret soon found himself working regularly with NYC’s finest jazz musicians, and his decision to stick around for a year after graduation was extended indefinitely. Maret’s dedication has paid off in spades: he won a Grammy with the Pat Metheny Group in 2005 for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album”, won the Jazz Journalists’ Association’s “Player of the Year” award, and was named a “Rising Star Miscellaneous Instrument (harmonica)” in DownBeat.
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