Steve Grismore
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Jazz Studies
Phone: (319) 335-1633
Office: 1055 VMB
gizmojazz@mchsi.com

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Steve Grismore

Steve Grismore has been playing the guitar for over 35 years and has degrees from the Guitar Institute of Technology (Los Angeles) and his BM and MA degrees from The University of Iowa.
Steve also has a long history jazz education in the state of Iowa. He has given numerous clinics at high schools and has adjudicated many of the state high jazz festivals including Seiba, Niacc, and the Tall Corn Jazz Festival. He has taught at several private colleges including Coe, Cornell, Central, and Iowa Wesleyan College. He has also taught at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA, Blackhawk College in Moline, IL and at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA. He was Director of Jazz Studies
at the University of Iowa from 1990-93, and is currently a jazz instructor at Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) and The University of Iowa (Iowa City,IA).

Steve has performed at various clubs and festivals all over the U.S. including clubs in Boston, Washington DC., Princeton, Los Angeles, Chicago, Omaha, St. Louis, Madison, and festivals including the West Virginia Wine and Jazz Festival, Madison Jazz Festival, Peoria Jazz Festival, Rutabaga Jazz Festival, the Tall Corn Jazz Festival, Springfield Jazz Festival, Elkhart Jazz Festival, and the Iowa City Jazz Festival.

Steve has performed with nationally-recognized jazz artists as well as local ensembles over the years including Paul Smoker, Scott Colley, Donny McCaslin, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Tatsu Aoki, Charlie Haden, Jack Walrath, Bobby Shew, Matt Wilson, John Carlson, Tim Hagans,Vinny Golia, Robert Dick, Kim Richmond, Victor Mendoza, Ryan Shultz, Damon Short, Paull Scea, Sex Mob, John Rapson, Tim O'Dell, Johnson County Landmark (in his college days), the Rhythm Rockers, the Often Ensemble, and the Damon Short Band. He is currently with the Steve Grismore Trio, the Oddbar Quartet, Gizmofunk, Orquesta de Jazz y Salsa Alto Maiz and the University of Iowa Jazz
Faculty Ensemble.

Steve has recorded with the group Happy House, and has many recordings with the Orquesta Alto Maiz, better known as "The Salsa Band," and is a recording artist for Accurate Records (Boston) with the Grismore/Scea Group. Their second release for Accurate, "Of What," received high praise in many of the national jazz periodicals and was voted one of the "10 Best of '97" by the Boston Phoenix Magazine. He also recorded a cd called "Lost Art Cafe" with The Odd Barr Trio + Trombone which was released late 1998 on the Ninewinds record label (Los Angeles)and was named one of "10 Best of '99" in the LA Jazz Scene. He was also part of a new cd project called "Water and Blood" by John Rapson featuring Billy Higgins, Bobby Bradford, Kim Richmond and many others including the jazz staff at Iowa. The Odd Bar Trio recently released a new live cd, "Odds and Ends," in 2002, and the Jazz Faculty Ensemble recently recorded a new project of John Rapson's music to be released later in 2003.

Grismore is a co-founder of the Iowa City Jazz Festival and has been the Musical Director of the festival for the past 12 years. He was named Executive Director of the festival in 1999 . The Jazz Festival has received national acclaim and has been recorded four times by NPR for rebroadcast on Branford Marsalis's show "Jazz Set." The Iowa City Jazz Festival was named one of the "10 best" in the Midwest in an 1996 issue of Downbeat Magazine. The festival has also received numerous awards including the "Tourism and the Arts" awards for the state of Iowa and "Best Festival" voted by local newspaper subscribers.

A final note: The Odd Bar Trio was featured on "Jazz Set" from the 1997 Iowa City Jazz Festival, and the Orquesta Alto Maiz performed in Europe in the summer of 1998 at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and was featured on "Jazz Set" from the 2000 Iowa City Jazz Festival. John Rapson's recent release "Water and Blood" also received a 4-star rating in a recent issue of Downbeat Magazine (Dec 2002).

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Last updated 7-feb-07