Eddie Gripper
Americana
by Howard Lawes
Born and brought up in Oxfordshire, Eddie Gripper moved to Cardiff, entering the university to study music. Over a Zoom call Eddie described his love of both classical and jazz music and the background to his new album, Americana.
While at university Eddie grew to love jazz, deciding to concentrate on the piano, rather than the trumpet which he took up at a young age. He met and was tutored by Huw Warren who is Head of Jazz Ensembles at the university as well as being a visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which is just down the road from the university. However, what could have been such a fertile environment for an aspiring jazz musician turned out to be at times like “learning in a vacuum” due to the impact of Covid. The pandemic also delayed, by 2 years, the great American adventure that Eddie, and his long-standing friend Henry finally embarked upon in 2022.
The idea for a trek across America came about as a way of celebrating the life of Henry’s father who had recently died, and followed on from other walks the two friends had completed together previously, walking the whole length of the Thames Path to raise money for charity and hitchhiking across the Scottish Highlands.
As Covid subsided the American trip became a reality, but in the meantime Eddie’s grandfather had died, so both walkers were marking their admiration for much loved figures in their lives. The route from Anchorage in Alaska to Los Angeles is about 3,500 miles and took 6 weeks to complete. During the journey Eddie recorded memories and composed music inspired by the stunning natural and urban landscapes, and the people they met, which has been condensed into the album Americana (2026).
The album has Eddie on piano, Clem Saynor on double bass and Patrick Barrett-Donlon on drums. There are six original tracks composed by Eddie with one composed by another of Eddie’s favourites composers, Paul Simon.
Here is a short video introduction to the album:
In an interview at the time of the release of Eddie Gripper’s first album, Home (2023) (Jazzwise, November 2023) Peter Jones expressed surprise that Eddie had “almost no knowledge of Jazz until 2018”. However, Eddie did know about improvisation. When Eddie selected the five albums he can’t live without (Jazzwise, May 2026) top of the list is J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1. Bach didn’t play jazz, but he was considered the greatest improviser of his time and known for his mastery of counterpoint. Eddie has long enjoyed improvising and is of the opinion that had they lived now, many of the great classical composers would have been equally at home with jazz. The great jazz trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis is quoted as saying “Bach was on to things that we haven’t quite got to yet”.
Here is a video for the title track of Home:
Before releasing Americana, Eddie and vocalist Elijah Jeffrey recorded and released an album. Titled simply as Elijah Jeffrey & Eddie Gripper, it is described by trumpeter and educator Dr Linley Hamilton as: "A brand-new album by two young titans who have collaborated in a focused project which reflects both their passion for music, and the strong desire to create. Written and recorded within 8 weeks, pianist Eddie Gripper and vocalist Elijah Jeffrey capture stories invented by two young men not afraid to explore themes of darkness and danger, balanced by hope and love in some of its many guises. There is no room for fear here. The whole creative process, working together in a room with a piano and a well-schooled voice, was shared by both musicians together, determined to write, record and produce within the tightest of time frames. And musicians, a carefully chosen term, alluding to the output having precedence over their individual musical ability, so that the songs would, in essence, come first! This has been achieved with Eddie exploring a mix of conventional and complex chord voicings, unison melody lines, and thrilling improvisations that sparkle in this crossover original repertoire. The album demonstrates an authority augmented by an impressive vocal range, controlled vibrato, and an individual voice; the perfect tool to purvey their messages with an authoritative conveyance. Their impressive relationship with dynamics reinforces the intent of their compositions, and the narrative they generate nods to music being more than what they play, rather how they make the listener feel."
Here they are with Shifting Seasons from the album:
Eddie’s intention with Americana was to compose music that recalled a time and place, to create tone poems. This is amply demonstrated on the first track, Third Beach, in which the repeating themes and changing dynamics readily evoke the sound of waves breaking on a beach, a place by the sea to relax after a long journey. So Long, Oregon is tinged with sadness, apparently because a hoped-for reunion with an old friend didn’t materialise.
Here is a video of Eddie playing Third Beach:
In the Yosemite National Park Eddie and Henry climbed Mount Dana (3,981m) although, as Eddie admits, not from sea level. Nevertheless, Eddie describes the climb as brutal, and the experience as both beautiful and terrifying, perhaps experiencing the same sense of awe invoked by the Sublime in artists of the Romantic era. The track, Dana, named after the mountain, focuses on the positive with a jolly conversation between piano and double bass. Equally upbeat is the track, Oceans Avenue, named after a beachfront road in Santa Monica, where Eddie recalls they "hired bikes and rode along by the Pacific, Oscar Peterson spilling through my headphones”. The swinging style of Peterson is very evident in this composition while the track also includes a drum solo from Patrick Barrett-Donlon.
The three other tracks on the album bring the listener back down to earth, One For The Road was composed in memory of Eddie’s grandfather John, and Henry’s father Bob. Both these men were adventurers whose spirit Eddie and Henry have inherited, and this reflective, solo piano piece is a lovely tribute to them both. Terminus, as the title implies, signifies that the adventure has reached its final destination, a double bass solo heightens the sense of the end of an era, but despite a feeling of sadness, the gathering momentum of the music promises a new chapter of life to look forward to.
The final track, American Tune, was composed by Paul Simon as an elegy for lost dreams and set to a Bach chorale. The lyric mentions “when I think of the road we’re travelling on, I wonder what went wrong”. The music and sentiments clearly resonated with Eddie as he notes “beneath its generous optimism, America remains deeply flawed”.
Now back in Cardiff, Eddie is contemplating a gruelling UK tour that started on 4th June with 31 gigs over one and a half months – further details are here. After the tour Eddie plans to move to Paris having lived there for a month last year. This is a new adventure for him and one that he is clearly very much looking forward to.
Eddie Gripper has a real talent for melodic and expressive composition while his eclectic taste in music provides him with a wealth of ideas that is very evident on this album. Eddie Gripper’s first album, Home, was released on the late Martin Hummel’s 'Ubuntu Records' from whom Eddie received great support and encouragement. Martin was American and Eddie has dedicated Americana to Martin.
The album Americana is available to sample and buy here. Eddie Gripper's website is here.
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2026.7