Stone Alliance was the creative collaboration between saxophonist Steve Grossman, bassist Gene Perla, and percussionist Don Alias. All three had long established themselves, both individually and working together, as sidemen with a who’s who in the world of jazz and beyond. Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Elvin Jones, and a host of others had enlisted the talents of Steve, Gene, and Don. Stone Alliance was their chance to step out front as leaders.

The trio arrived in Chile in October 1976 and soon had two appearances on Chilean TV in literally months after the group was formed.  An appearance on Brazilian TV 2 years later presented another line up with Grossman gone and Marcio Montarroyos, Sergio Dias, and Mark Gray (trumpet, electric guitar, and keyboards), who bring a more rock edge to the mix.

Don and Gene talk about the genesis of the Alliance and where it’s headed in two interviews on local Canadian TV stations in Ottawa. The interviews are a lot of fun to watch. The sets are extremely low-tech and the interviewers really don’t know much about music in general and jazz in particular but Don and Gene handle the situations with humor.

The DVD ends with a TV appearance from Zurich in 1980. Tenor saxophonist Bob Mintzer and pianist Kenny Kirkland join the Alliance in a stunning performance of Gene’s composition “Miss T.”

When their busy schedules allowed, Don and Gene would revisit Stone Alliance featuring a rotating cast of long-time friends and new talent they encountered along the way, always taking the music to a new place.

Sadly, Don passed away in 2006. He left an amazing legacy of recorded music and entertained and inspired countless audiences around the world. The performances on this DVD shine a light on amazing talent doing what they loved. Enjoy.

Jim Gilheany

MAN! I've been really enjoying the Stone Alliance DVD. The stuff with Grossman is so killer... what synergy you guys had!!!! Inspiring stuff! Really enjoyed the interviews too! I've been telling anyone and everyone about it!
Ryan Devlin