Savage Grace

Savage Grace were Detroit's progressive rock band of the late '60s. With chops galore and a background rooted in jazz and R&B (with some good old-fashioned Detroit rock & roll thrown in for good measure), Savage Grace stood out from the rest of the Michigan bands as something special and as something quite eclectic. With Guitarist Ron Koss, keyboardist John Seanor, and drummer Larry Zack as the nucleus of a jazzy trio called Scarlet Letter (with two albums on Mainstream), the addition of vocalist/bassist Al Jacquez transformed the group into Savage Grace. The band was soon signed to Reprise and released its eponymous debut album in 1969. Upon moving to Los Angeles the following year, the group embarked on a second album, which took almost two years to complete. By 1972, the trail had ended and the bandmembers went their separate ways. Savage Grace never achieved the success that seemed like their due; certainly their musicianship was top-notch and their songwriting was good enough, but in the long run they were perhaps a bit too eclectic to find a mainstream audience.