New Release: Breathe Blue (2023)

Breathe Blue is an intimate and introspective album of Irish traditional music featuring Eliot Grasso on tin whistle and Adam Hendey on guitar.

“Breathe Blue is a very fine album from two gifted players. Grasso and Hendey clearly play on the same wavelength – their work together is refined and meticulous. There is superb chemistry in their shared vision. There’s considerable invention, especially in the accompaniment, and some beautiful little touches in how the melody is expressed that demonstrate the care with which these musicians approached the music for this album.” - Daniel Neely, The Irish Echo


 

Dréos: The Clearing

The Clearing is a taut, accomplished work that plays at the crossroads between Irish and Scottish music. Dréos as a group is very tight musically – each of the members has superior skills – but I think it’s the chemistry that Grasso, Vance, and Waddell share that makes their music especially interesting.” - Daniel Neely, The Irish Echo


 

Standing Room Only

Energetic music featuring Eliot Grasso on uilleann pipes accompanied by guitar, bouzouki and fiddle. Recorded at age 18, Standing Room Only, Eliot’s solo debut album, brought him to international attention.

“...his all-instrumental solo debut album [Standing Room Only] already marks him as a dazzlingly agile and lyrical piper.” - Baltimore Magazine

“Grasso plays with great maturity and a startling understanding not only of his chosen instrument, but also of Irish music in general.” - Irish Edition


 

The Odyssey of These Days

Odyssey of These Days is original chamber music composed by Eliot Grasso in response to the deep and penetrating abstract artwork of Oregon painter Robert Wesley Hurd. This three-movement work features uilleann pipes, violin, hardanger fiddle, vielle à roue, and cello. The composition earned Eliot a composer’s grant from the Oregon Art Commission and the work was given its world premiere at the Hult Center in Eugene, Oregon.

“Grasso’s music seems to activate the space just in front of the canvas, animating the intricate layers and texture within its frame. Just as the music activates the space, the tonal relationships and layered intricacies begin to shift acting more like a symphony elapsing in time rather than canvases set in space.”

- Cathy Denning, Art Historian, Oregon State University


 

Up Against the Flatirons

A recording of solo uilleann piping commissioned by Na Píobairí Uilleann, Ireland’s national piping club.

“This album [Up Against the Flatirons] is an overall amazing achievement. I find Eliot’s playing highly intellectual in this first instance, with an emphasis on subtlety and fine-woven structures.” - An Píobaire


 

North by Northwest

North by Northwest is a duo session album with Eliot Grasso on uilleann pipes and flute and Dave Cory on banjo and guitar.

“With Eliot’s signature sound driven by his squeaky clean technique, there is never a difficult sounding passage, nor wrinkle in the tempo; and Dave Cory is right there with him at every twist and turn.” - Iris na bPíobairí


 

Celebrate World Music

Celebrate World Music! was a world premiere concert at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall featuring original works by eight composers, with 11 solo artists playing traditional instruments from around the world, accompanied by the Northwest Sinfonia orchestra, and conducted by Grammy-winner David Sabee. Featured tracks include Nan Avant’s “Tributum” performed by Eliot Grasso on uilleann pipes.


 

Live Recordings from the William Kennedy Piping Festival, Vol. 2

Eliot’s solo performance that opened the 50th William Kennedy Piping Festival for the Armagh Pipers Club, Europe’s oldest piping club.