Don Grolnick pretty much reached the top of his profession as a first-call New York studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s, working in the pop field and appearing on hundreds of records from Steely Dan to Linda Ronstadt, and from Carly Simon to Bette Midler. His first love was jazz and he remained close to the Brecker siblings – he was a member of the original Brecker Brothers band and in the early 1980s was a founder member of Steps Ahead with Michael Brecker. In 1988, he decided to take a complete break from record dates and producing to work on a series of original jazz compositions. The fruits of his furlough came in 1989 with Weaver of Dreams (Blue Note) and Nighttown from 1992, both with all-star ensembles. On the latter, all but one composition – ‘What Is This Thing Called Love’ – are Grolnick originals. They highlight what an exceptional composer and arranger he was. The film noir mood of the album is highlighted by the cover art – even the Cole Porter tune was orchestrated to feel noir-ish. Grolnick’s gift was making complexity appear uncomplex – soloists are given forms and harmonic material on which to improvise that is often quite different to the harmonies and structures of the thematic material, yet it’s all achieved so seamlessly. ‘One Bird, One Stone’, for example, has a 24-bar introduction, followed by a 20-bar theme (repeated) based on extended F chords, followed by a 14-bar episode with solos on a completely different harmonic structure. It’s subtle, but gives the piece a feeling of becoming. The title track and ‘Heart of Darkness’ hit the overall noir feel to perfection. The soloists, especially Brecker and Lovano, base their improvisations around the needs of the composition, finding a voice that did not alter the compositional intent yet maintaining their distinct individual voices. In its entirety, Nightttown is a minor masterpiece.