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Grant Green

Green was born on June 6, 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri. Hefirst performed in a professional setting at the age of 13.His early influences were Charlie Christian and CharlieParker; however, he played extensive R & B gigs in hishome town and in East Saint Louis, IL while developing hisjazz chops. His first recordings in St. Louis were with tenorsaxophonist Jimmy Forrest for the Delmark label. LouDonaldson discovered green playing in a bar in St. Louis.After touring together with Donaldson, Green arrived in NewYork around 1959-60. In a Down Beat interview fromthe early 60's, Green said "The first thing I learned to playwas boogie-woogie. Then I had to do a lot of rock and roll.It's all blues, anyhow."

Lou Donaldson introduced Green to Alfred Lion of BlueNote Records. Lion was so impressed that, rather thantesting Green as a sideman, as was the usual Blue Notepractice, he arranged for him to record as a bandleaderfirst. This recording relationship was to last, with a fewexceptions, throughout the 'sixties. From 1961 to 1965Green made more Blue Note LPs as leader and sidemanthan anyone else. Green was named best new star in theDown Beat critics' poll, 1962. As a result, his influencespread wider than New York. Green's first session as aleader did not meet the approval of Lion and was shelved,not to be released until 2002 as First Session.Green's first issued album as a leader was Grant's FirstStand. This was followed in the same year by two moreBlue Note releases: Green Street andGrantstand. He often provided support to many ofother great musicians on Blue Note. These includedsaxophonists Hank Mobley, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentineand Harold Vick, as well as organists Larry Young and BigJohn Patton.

Sunday Mornin' , The Latin Bit and Feelin'the Spirit are all loose concept albums, each taking amusical theme or style: Gospel, Latin and spiritualsrespectively. Green always carried off his more commercialdates with artistic success during this period. IdleMoments (1963), featuring Joe Henderson and BobbyHutcherson, and Solid (1964) are acclaimed as twoof Green's best recordings. Many of Green's Blue Noterecordings, including a series of sessions with pianist SonnyClark were not released during his lifetime.In 1966 Green left Blue Note and recorded for several otherlabels, including Verve. From 1967 to 1969 Grant wasinactive due to personal problems.In 1969 Green, having relocated to Detroit, returned with anew funk-influenced band. His recordings from this periodinclude the commercially successful Green isBeautiful and Live at the Lighthouse. Grant leftBlue Note again in 1974 and once again recordedsporadically for different labels.

Grant Green: Idle Moments

by Geno Thackara
October 8, 2023

Idle moments can so often be the most inspiring ones--the kind that are not about doing nothing, exactly, but rather leaving space for who-knows-what to happen. In the case of this session, what happened was a slight chart-reading mixup that had everyone taking solos twice as long as planned. For such a patient and dreamy piece, all the extra time to drift couldn't have been a happier accident. ...

Album Review

Joe Henderson: The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions

Read "The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
November 22, 2021

If an artist stamps his jazz passport with any one of these labels--Blue Note, Verve, Milestone--it's pretty much a guarantee that you've arrived in style. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson has traveled with all three and more. The 2021 reissue from the prestigious Mosaic Records focuses on Henderson's 1960s tenure with Blue Note offers a new opportunity to experience an abundance of rich and creative jazz from the decade. Big band and bop were duking it out in the ...

Radio & Podcasts

Blue Note 50ths and a Tad More

by Marc Cohn
January 10, 2020

Happy New Year! First show of the month and 2020—it's time for Blue Note albums that are celebrating their 50th anniversary, being from January 1970! Lou Donaldson, Grant Green, Lonnie Smith, Andrew Hill and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra! Bassist and saxophonist Mark Zaleski will be in Baton Rouge at Chorum Hall on Wednesday, January 8th, and we track a tune from his latest recording. It's the start of the Charlie Parker centennial, and we'll be featuring Savoy studio tracks ...

My Blue Note Obsession

Grant Green: The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark – 1961-62

by Marc Davis
September 27, 2016

Imagine if someone discovered a stash of unreleased Beatles records 15 years after they broke up. Then imagine Apple Records released all that music in a 2-CD set. That's what Grant Green: The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark is like. I exaggerate, but not by much. Grant Green wasn't the Beatles of jazz. But for about five years in the early-to mid-1960s, he was arguably the best jazz guitarist around. He was in the same class ...

Album Review

Larry Young: Into Somethin'

Read "Into Somethin'" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
January 5, 2013

Organist Larry Young's Into Somethin' is full of relaxed grooves, great melodies and strong performances from tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers and 1960s stalwarts Elvin Jones (drums) and Grant Green (guitar). Originally released in 1964, this record has been remastered and released on 45 RPM vinyl by Ron Rambach at Music Matters. Soul Jazz? Groove Jazz? Whatever. It's good jazz and that's what matters. On the opening “Tyrone," Young plays deep blues at a straightforward, un-showy pace that gets ...

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Extended Analysis

Grant Green: Matador

by Matt Marshall
December 7, 2009

Grant Green Matador Blue Note / Music Matters 2009 (1964)

This may be the reissue of 2009: a resplendent vinyl pressing of guitarist Grant Green's Matador on two 180-gram, 45-rpm records from Music Matters. This May 1964 recording was, like many Blue Note sets, not released until many years later (November 1979 in Japan in this case) and only reached the U.S. on CD in 1990. It has not been remastered since. The record ...

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Album Review

Grant Green: Street Of Dreams

Read "Street Of Dreams" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
April 18, 2009

Grant Green (1931-79) is probably the most sampled guitarist of his generation, and is rightly regarded as a godfather of acid jazz. His debut, Grant's First Stand (Blue Note, 1961)--heavy on the good foot groove--was made with soul jazz organist Baby Face Willette, and by 1965, when Green recorded an album for Verve, the label was able to title it, accurately enough, His Majesty King Funk. Many of Green's post-1970 recordings were built around extended, vamp or ostinato driven jams. ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Grant Green

Source: Michael Ricci
June 6, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Grant Green's birthday today!

Recording

Backgrounder: Grant Green, Gooden's Corner

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 19, 2023

If you're new to Grant Green and want to really get a sense of why the guitarist was so special, this week's Backgrounder is for you. Recorded in December 1961, Gooden's Corner was among a bunch of Blue Note albums by Green that weren't released soon after they were recorded. In this album's case, the album didn't come out until 1980. I'm guessing the move had to do with the overdose death of Sonny Clark in January 1963, at age ...
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Video / DVD

Grant Green: 'Live at the Lighthouse'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 14, 2022

Guitarist Grant Green had two significant careers. The first was as a Blue Note artist who recorded 29 albums for the label between 1960 and 1972, most of them straight ahead jazz. The other career was as a funky soul-jazz player who recorded important riff-driven albums for other labels starting in 1965 (His Majesty King Funk for Verve). This career was eclipsed by the rapid rise of the jazz fusion movement. One album that bridged these two careers was his ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Grant Green

Source: Michael Ricci
June 6, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Grant Green's birthday today!

Recording

Grant Green: Matador

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 14, 2021

Few Blue Note artists seem to have been squeezed the way Grant Green was. Ten of the albums he recorded in the 1960s entered the label's Bermuda Triangle, emerging years later when Blue Note was under new management and the archives were being mined. It's hard to know how Green's career might have been different if all of these albums had reached the marketplace. One of Green's intended albums that didn't see the light of day for some time was ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Grant Green

Source: Michael Ricci
June 6, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Grant Green's birthday today!

Recording

Grant Green: Church Perch

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 25, 2020

Guitarist Grant Green recorded two gospel-flavored leadership albums. The first was Sunday Mornin', in June 1961, and the second was Feelin' the Spirit in December 1962. Though Green would become a Blue Note studio star in the 1960s and '70s, he grew up in St. Louis and began his career at age 13 playing guitar in churches, backing a gospel vocal group. Sunday Mornin' features Kenny Drew (p), Grant Green (g), Ben Tucker (b) and Ben Dixon (d). The album's ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Grant Green

Source: Michael Ricci
June 6, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Grant Green's birthday today!

TV / Film

Documentary: Grant Green

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 8, 2020

At his peak in the early 1960s, Grant Green was one of the most soulful, swinging jazz guitarists recording. Unfortunately, many of his albums weren't released until after his death in 1979. The business reasoning remains puzzling but the decision by Blue Note clearly had nothing to do with his playing. Green appeared on many albums as a sideman, and I suppose the label didn't want to saturate the market. In addition, tastes were shifting to soul-jazz and boogaloo. In ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Grant Green

Source: Michael Ricci
June 6, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Grant Green's birthday today!

"Perhaps the greatest testament to his musical gift was that at a time when the guitar had fallen out of favor, suddenly, Grant Green could be heard everywhere, recording with several of the finest rhythm sections in New York." —Ben Sidran

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