Muriel Grossmann
“Reverance”
scum stats: limited to 1000 copies.
So this year has started off great. A weird spot on my nose led to my general practitioner telling me I should have a dermatologist look at it. Dermatologist IMMEDIATELY performed a biopsy and three days later they called and told me it was a basal cell carcinoma…AKA basic-ass “if we just cut it out you should be fine” skin cancer.
Got a call from the specialist a week later, got my consultation scheduled for THAT day and a week later I power through four rounds of Mohs surgery. What initially appeared to be a dime-sized portion that needed to be removed very quickly inflated up to a quarter-sized patch of my nose being excavated.
Doc didn’t even sew me up that day, said I’d been through enough and to come back the next morning. So with the sounds of Alice Coltrane’s “Journey in Satchidananda” going on repeat, they tugged and pulled at my face for an hour to try and cover up the void. I was literally numb, couldn’t feel shit, and was just happily jawing away about god knows what.
(staff was cool and let me play music from my phone while they closed me up…and they both seemed to dig Alice, the nurse saying “with your breathing and this music, I’d assume you do yoga” and the doc saying “this reminds me of the satellite radio station Spa.”)
SO APOLOGIES IF I’M NOT GOING SUPER IN-DEPTH ON THE RECORD REVIEW TODAY I MIGHT BE A LITTLE PRE-OCCUPIED.
Anyway, the madame Grossmann put out a new album at the end of last year and it may be as stellar as her “Golden Rule” from 2018.
I LOVE that record so much that the potential to fully sink into these recordings is just the salve I need to deal with bandage replacements, suture removals, a rest of my life dedication to sunblock and that absolute pure gratefulness that all in all, I *think* I got out relatively unscathed.
Check out the bonkers rhythm to “Okan Ti Aye” buttressed by Grossman’s unencumbered countermelodies weaving effortlessly amidst the maelstrom. Like a brick shithouse wrapped in goddamned silk.
2xLP, 180-gram discs, super-glossy cover art and super-heavy tip-on jacket. Those Estonian cats at RR Gems are not fucking around. Good luck finding someone in the States selling a copy…but honestly, this sucker is worth the overseas shipping. Live a little. You never know how long you have anyway.
Reading this the day after seeing my dr for a spot on my nose and being told I might need Mohs surgery… Damned glad you made it through ok, Ben, and thank you for sharing the details, including the bandage photo. Not sure if I’ll include Muriel Grossman on my playlist if I go under the knife, maybe I’ll queue up Daniel Schmidt instead.
A really important lesson we all need to follow – when you notice something seems a little bit different (and not just on the outside) GET IT CHECKED OUT! If there’s nothing to worry about you can stop worrying. If there is something it is ALWAYS best tackled as soon as possible. Unfortunately too many of us are too busy / embarrassed / scared and look for any excuse not to see a doctor. Cancer feeds on apathy and denial. Well done Ben for the honesty to share what must have scared the **** out of you- hope you come to terms with the extra ‘character’ your nose now has, and hope we tell our family and friends (and ourselves) the importance of early detection.
Mohs is the gold standard, will fix you right up (even if it takes some time) with minimal effect on your beauty. Glad it got discovered early, and to an awesome soundtrack.
Thank you Ben. We appreciate you.
“brick shithouse wrapped in goddamned silk” says it all. Been listening to a lot of jazz myself lately on KSDS 88.3 listener sponsored non-commercial jazz station out in San Diego. Also a fan of Alice Coltrane. Sorry about your nose Ben.
Take care of yourself. Your family needs you more than we need a record of the week. Thanks for sharing what you’re going through and you have the best wishes from ours to you and yours. You’ve got this!