The son of a pianist and an RCA record company representative, Steve Grossman was born in New York on January 18, 1951, and learned alto saxophone at the age of eight, followed by soprano and tenor in his teens. Influenced by the technique of Sonny Rollins, he moved into hard bop playing before replacing Wayne Shorter in Miles Davis's fusion band at the end of 1969. For a year, the saxophonist took part in the sessions for A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1970) and the later Big Fun and Get Up with It, as well as the albums for the Fillmore and Live-Evil concerts (1970). After this enriching experience, Steve Grossman accompanied keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith in 1971 and drummer Elvin Jones from 1971 to 1976. In 1974, he joined Gene Perla's Stone Alliance with Jan Hammer and Don Alias, who produced the album Some Shapes to Come. For the same label, PM Records, he recorded the Terra Firma album as leader, released in 1977. Grossman subsequently collaborated with French label Owl Records, Italian label Red Record and Japanese label DIW. In 1990, he began a long association with the French label Dreyfus Jazz with the album Do It. Cedar Walton's trio took part in the recording of A Small Hotel (1993), while Tom Harrell, Elvin Jones and Cecil McBee accompanied him on Time to Smile (1994). In 1998, Steve Grossman and pianist Michel Petrucciani's quartet teamed up for an album, followed by collaborations with Italian groups such as Giampaolo Ascolese's trio, the Riccardo Fassi Tankio Band, Antonio Ciacca's quintet and Gianluca Esposito's quartet. The saxophonist died in Glen Cove, New York, on August 13, 2020, at the age of 69.
