Steve Grismore © Andrea Canter

Tom Surowicz described Grismore/Scea as "Iowa's hippest gift to modern jazz . . . a free-thinking unit that's avant and accessible, with a sheaf of great compositions" in the Minneapolis StarTribune. Guitarist Steve Grismore and reedman Paul Scea have a depth of skill and experience which obscures the lines between genres. Grismore lives in Iowa City, Scea in West Virginia, while off the beaten jazz path both have become formidable and busy players and composers.

Grismore has been playing the guitar for over thirty years and has degrees from the Guitar Institute of Technology(Los Angeles) and his undergraduate and masters degrees from the University of Iowa.

Steve also has a long history jazz education in the state of Iowa. He has taught at several small colleges including Coe, Cornell, Central, Iowa Wesleyan and more. He was Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Iowa from 1990-93.

Photo by Andrea Canter

He is co-founder and Music Director of the Iowa City Jazz Festival. The Jazz Fest is in its fourteenth year and has received national acclaim and has been recorded three separate times by National Public Radio for rebroadcast on Bradford Marsalis's show "Jazz Set".

Anthony Cox is a world-class bass player who, from a home base in the Twin Cities, has taught, performed a recorded around the world. He plays traditional jazz as well as post-bop and more avant-garde styles, and performs on equally well on upright string bass, string electric bass and Spanish acoustic bass. He has recorded with Sam Rivers, Dewey Redman, Geri Allen, Arthur Blythe, Mike Cain, Uri Caine and many others. He has recordings on several labels.

Paul Scea © Andrea Canter

Scea is currently the Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Director of the World Music Center at West Virginia University. He is heavily influenced by 60's avant-garde (Trane, Ayler, Shepp, Sanders et.al.) but is equally indebted to such players such as Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker. His flute playing shows him to be a direct descendant of the Eric Dolphy, Roland Kirk, Sam Rivers, James Newton line.

Catch the music at the Artists' Quarter, 408 St. Peter near the corner of St. Peter and 7th Place in Saint Paul, MN on November 10th and 11th starting at 9:00 PM. (651) 292-1359