Viola
Marvin Gruenbaum
During his tenure with Kansas City, Marvin has been featured as a “fiddle” soloist with the KCS on jazz/alternative arrangements, most notably on his 1984 arrangement of Ervin Rouse’s “Orange Blossom Special” (performed on 25 occasions), and recently with his original arrangements for Trio/Orchestra at the Symphony in the Flint Hills (2021). Concurrent with his KCS tenure, Marvin was the featured fiddle player (1986 to 2007) with Spontaneous Combustion, an acoustic 4-piece local band which focused primarily on Top 40 “Oldies” played in bluegrass style and on progressive styles. Repertoire also included Classical “hits” like Rossini’s “Overture to William Tell,” Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance #5,” Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and “Turkish March,” all arranged with a bluegrass twist. During the winter and spring of 1990, Marvin took Symphony Leave to play fiddle in Japan for six months with the Texas Rangers. Marvin currently fiddles regularly with 3 Trails West, a 5-piece Western Swing band that has been honored with “Western Swing Duo/Band of the Year” awards from the Academy of Western Artists and the International Western Music Association. Recent endeavors as a Kansas City jazz violinist have been equally successful, playing for over 15 years with A La Mode (Best of Kansas City’s “Best Jazz Group” 3-time winner,) and with his own trio, The Hot Strings.
Marvin Gruenbaum is a charter member of the Kansas City Symphony viola section since its inception in 1982. He is also an eclectic violinist, having gained notoriety in bluegrass, country/western and jazz venues since 1978. As a private teacher for 50 years, he has served as a clinician for fiddle workshops, violin and viola master classes, and jazz camps. As a violinist, Marvin served for two years as Concertmaster of his high school orchestra. After high school, he studied Cultural Anthropology and Asian Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, until eventually realizing his true calling to the music field. In 1974, he transferred to the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, attaining his B.A. in Music (Violin) in 1978, and a Master of Music (Viola Performance) in 1981. During his time at the Conservatory, Marvin continued to hone his improvisational skills (jazz, bluegrass, country/western, North Indian raga). After graduation he began a short career as a country/western fiddle player, until winning and accepting a position as a violist with the Kansas City Symphony (1982).
During his tenure with Kansas City, Marvin has been featured as a “fiddle” soloist with the KCS on jazz/alternative arrangements, most notably on his 1984 arrangement of Ervin Rouse’s “Orange Blossom Special” (performed on 25 occasions), and recently with his original arrangements for Trio/Orchestra at the Symphony in the Flint Hills (2021). Concurrent with his KCS tenure, Marvin was the featured fiddle player (1986 to 2007) with Spontaneous Combustion, an acoustic 4-piece local band which focused primarily on Top 40 “Oldies” played in bluegrass style and on progressive styles. Repertoire also included Classical “hits” like Rossini’s “Overture to William Tell,” Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance #5,” Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and “Turkish March,” all arranged with a bluegrass twist. During the winter and spring of 1990, Marvin took Symphony Leave to play fiddle in Japan for six months with the Texas Rangers. Marvin currently fiddles regularly with 3 Trails West, a 5-piece Western Swing band that has been honored with “Western Swing Duo/Band of the Year” awards from the Academy of Western Artists and the International Western Music Association. Recent endeavors as a Kansas City jazz violinist have been equally successful, playing for over 15 years with A La Mode (Best of Kansas City’s “Best Jazz Group” 3-time winner,) and with his own trio, The Hot Strings.
Fire and Fury
As a clueless 3rd-grader, I was introduced to the violin by the school music personnel and my parents. I was considered to have a pretty good ear and the violin was thought to be a good fit for me. I played all through my school years (though nearly quit in 7th grade) and in college. As a violin student at the UMKC Conservatory, I was introduced to the viola by my teacher, Prof. Hugh Brown. Although reluctant at first, I soon developed an affinity for the warm sound and range of the viola, and went on to study it as my primary instrument in graduate school.
I would love to have dinner with Brazilian composer Antônio Carlo Jobim, eating some exotic tapas in a cafe in Portugal while he scribbles a soon-to-be-famous new song on a napkin.
My favorite thing about performing music is the profound interplay between instruments, coupled with the satisfaction that comes from executing a difficult solo or orchestral passage really well. In jazz, it is the exhilaration of improvising over complex chord changes and really putting together a cohesive and brilliant solo. It’s what you always strive for anyway: to hear something inspiring in your head and having it come out on the instrument the way you conceive it. In Classical music, it’s taking a beautiful, intricate passage and playing it the way you want it to sound, with all the dynamics and expression you are aiming for.
My main achievement is the ability to improvise fluently in a jazz style. Years of experience have enabled me to read and understand harmonic changes with confidence. Beyond that, I have developed, through an ever more comprehensive internal grasp of harmonies, the capacity to create inspired spontaneous, “right brain” musical ideas which supersede deliberate theoretical analysis.
Kindness, openness, alertness, and friendliness.
I hope that you’ll find me in Jazz Clubs. I am trying to increase the number of dates that I play with my new band, The Hot Strings, in clubs like Jardine’s. I also will be playing some outdoor events like Plaza Live, Zona Rosa Jazz Series, art fairs, etc.
Kansas City’s best Jazz Violinist
It is rewarding, though it requires intense discipline, and not for the faint of heart.