BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Grant Green

Grant Green

Background information
Born	June 6, 1935
Died	January 31, 1979 (aged 43)
Genres	Soul jazz, hard bop, jazz blues, post-bop, jazz-funk
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1959–1978
Labels	Blue Note Records
Associated acts	Larry Young, Lou Donaldson,Big John Patton
Notable instruments
Gibson ES-330, D'Aquisto

Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979; some sources erroneously give his year of birth as 1931^[1]) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.

Recording prolifically and mainly for Blue Note Records (as both leader and sideman) Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz,bebop and Latin-tinged idioms throughout his career. Critics Michael Erlewine and Ron Wynn write, "A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar ... Green's playing is immediately recognizable – perhaps more than any other guitarist."^[2] Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as "lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy".^[3] He often performed in an organ trio, a small group with an organ and drummer.

Apart from guitarist Charlie Christian, Green's primary influences were saxophonists, particularly Charlie Parker, and his approach was therefore almost exclusively linear rather than chordal. The simplicity and immediacy of Green's playing, which tended to avoid chromaticism, derived from his early work playing rhythm and blues and, although at his best he achieved a synthesis of this style with bop, he was essentially a blues guitarist and returned almost exclusively to this style in his later career.^[4]

Biography

Green was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He first performed in a professional setting at the age of 12. His influences were Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Jimmy Raney, he first played boogie-woogie before moving on to jazz. His first recordings in St. Louis were with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest for the United label. The drummer in the band was Elvin Jones, later the powerhouse behind John Coltrane. Grant recorded with Elvin again in the early 1960s. Lou Donaldson discovered Grant playing in a bar in St. Louis. After touring together with Donaldson, Grant arrived in New York around 1959–60.

Lou Donaldson introduced Grant to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records. Lion was so impressed with Grant that rather than testing Grant as a sideman, as was the usual Blue Note practice, Lion arranged for him to record as a group leader first. However, due to a lack of confidence on Green's part the initial recording session was only released in 2001 asFirst Session.^[5]^[6]

Despite the shelving of his first session, Green's recording relationship with Blue Note was to last, with a few exceptions, throughout the Sixties. From 1961 to 1965, Grant made more appearances on Blue Note LPs, as leader or sideman, than anyone else. Grant's first issued album as a leader was Grant's First Stand. This was followed in the same year by Green Street and Grantstand. Grant was named best new star in the Down Beat critics' poll, in 1962. He often provided support to the other important musicians on Blue Note, including saxophonists Hank Mobley, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine and organist Larry Young.

Sunday Mornin' , The Latin Bit and Feelin' the Spirit are all loose concept albums, each taking a musical theme or style: Gospel, Latin and spirituals respectively. Grant always carried off his more commercial dates with artistic success during this period. Idle Moments (1963), featuring Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, and Solid (1964), are thought of as two of Grant's best recordings.

Many of Grant's recordings were not released during his lifetime. These include McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones (also part of the Solid group) performing on Matador (also recorded in 1964), and several albums with pianist Sonny Clark. In 1966 Grant left Blue Note and recorded for several other labels, including Verve. From 1967 to 1969 Grant was, for the most part, inactive due to personal problems and the effects of heroin addiction. In 1969 Grant returned with a new funk-influenced band. His recordings from this period include the commercially successful Green is Beautiful and the soundtrack to the film The Final Comedown.

Grant left Blue Note again in 1974 and the subsequent recordings he made with other labels divide opinion: some consider Green to have been the 'Father of Acid Jazz' (and his late recordings have been sampled by artists including US3, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy),^[7] while others have dismissed them (reissue producer Michael Cuscunawrote in the sleeve notes for the album Matador: "During the 1970s [Green] made some pretty lame records").

Grant spent much of 1978 in hospital and, against the advice of doctors, went back on the road to earn some money. While in New York to play an engagement at George Benson's Breezin' Lounge, Grant collapsed in his car of a heart attack in New York City on January 31, 1979. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and was survived by six children. Since Green's demise, his reputation has grown and many compilations of both his earlier (post-bop/straight ahead and soul jazz) and later (funkier/dancefloor jazz) periods, exist.

Equipment

Green used a Gibson ES-330, then a Gibson L7 with a Gibson McCarty pickguard/pick-up, an Epiphone Emperor (with the same pick-up) and finally had a custom-built D'Aquisto. According to fellow guitarist George Benson, Grant achieved his tone by turning off the bass and treble settings of his amplifier, and maximizing the midrange. This way he could get his signature punchy, biting tone.

Discography

As leader

Blue Note Records

Recording Date	Title	Release Date
1960-61	First Session	2001
1961	Grant's First Stand	1961
1961	Green Street	1961
1961	Sunday Mornin'	1961
1961	Grantstand	1961
1961	Remembering	1980
1961	Gooden's Corner	1980
1962	Nigeria	1980
1962	Oleo	1980
1962	Born to Be Blue	1985
1962	The Latin Bit	1962
1962	Goin' West	1969
1962	Feelin' the Spirit	1962
1963	Blues for Lou	1999
1963	Am I Blue	1963
1963	Idle Moments	1964
1964	Matador	1979
1964	Solid	1979
1964	Talkin' About!	1964
1964	Street of Dreams	1964
1965	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1965
1969	Carryin' On	1969
1970	Green Is Beautiful	1970
1970	Alive!	1970
1971	Live at Club Mozambique	2006
1971	Visions	1971
1971	Shades of Green	1971
1971	The Final Comedown	1972
1972	Live at The Lighthouse	1972

Other labels

Recording Date	Title	Label	Release Date	Notes
1961	Reaching Out	Black Lion Records^[8]	1961	Originally released in 1961 as Dave Bailey Quintet, Reaching Out (Jazztime JT-003). Reissued in 1973 as Grant Green, Green Blues (Muse Records-MR 5014) 1973. Reissued in 1989 as Grant Green, Reaching Out (Black Lion Records-BLCD760129).
1965	His Majesty King Funk	Verve	1965
1967	Iron City	Cobblestone	1972
1976	The Main Attraction	Kudu	1976
1978	Easy	Versatile	1978