Search - Grant Green :: Grant's First Stand

Grant Green first came to Blue Note founder Alfred Lion's attention when the guitarist was a member of Lou Donaldson's working band, and Lion rapidly scheduled this session for Green in January of 1961. It stands as Green's first as a leader and the beginning of a string of fine Blue Note albums. Emphasizing single-note lines, Green had a gift for fluent, melodic invention, playing lean, horn-like phrases with shifting accents and a full, expressive sound that was all his own. He's joined here by the other members of Donaldson's rhythm section, organist Baby Face Willette and drummer Ben Dixon, and their familiarity shows in the relaxed intimacy and potent swing of the music, from slow tempos to fast. The instrumentation and musical personalities emphasize the blues-drenched, soulful side of Green's playing, and Willette, a flexible and relatively subdued organist, is a fine complement throughout. Green's skill with standards is apparent on "Lullaby of the Leaves," a favorite of guitarists from Tal Farlow to the Ventures. It was a remarkable debut for a musician whose reputation as one of the most significant players in the pantheon of jazz guitarists continues to grow. --Stuart Broomer