Search - Grant Green :: Live at Club Mozambique

Not my favorite live Green album, but a good listen

Michael G. Voitik | Skokie, IL United States | 09/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for a funky Green outing..you will find some hintings of it here...this album precedes "Alive" and "Live at the Lighthouse" and shows a bit of restraint compared to the latter two. I'd start with "Alive", then try on "Live at the Lighthouse" and finally buy "Live at Club Mozambique as a finish..."

Awesome

D. Loss | pensacola FL | 12/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If alive and live at the lighthouse didn't exist this would be my favorite grant green album the mix isn't as goog as the other live albums because the 24 track master tapes were missing and this was taken from a mono recording but the guitar is still funky and overall an interesting selection of songs. This is a beautiful album that anybody who has listened to live at the lighthouse , or Alive! will surely appreciate."

Great Green!

jazz_ahead | 02/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing and enjoying (Dr.) Lonnie Smith's "Live at Mozambique" recording from 1970, I was curious for several years as to why this Grant Green session stayed in the can for so many years. Both of these jazz greats had moved to the city of Detroit, MI by the time of their recordings at Mozambique. Although jazz was changing and saw the first signs of adapting then-new groove/funk rhythms, the fire remained hot and the pulse was still infectious. It was a new way to "swing" and carry the message to a new generation.



From the obscure reedman Clarence Thomas to the more familiar band members such as fellow reed player Houston Person and drummer Idris Muhammad, everybody on "Mozambique" pours themselves into the cause and purpose: to get the groove going and burn as much as possible.



Quite simply, Grant and company were forced to bring the heat. The material is mostly funk-based and contains vamps and grooves that provided these well-versed jazzers the opportunitiy to stretch out before a hometown crowd that was equally at home with Mowtown as they were with Miles. Special acknowledgement goes to the New Orleans/New York rhythm team of Idris Muhammad and the then-prodigy organist Ronny Foster. Muhammad's playing embodies the intelligence of jazz percussion while laying down some of the most intense funk and groove rhythms. As impressive as Foster's solos are, he never sacrifices the basslines and it is his comping and basslines with Idris' pulse that sets the tone of this recording.



The pop hit "More Than Yesterday" has a killer arrangement that rivals organist Charles Earland's version that became an instrumental jazz hit. "Jan Jan" leads off the disc and includes a brief bridge in the melody that slightly differs from the later, better-known version that is part of "Live at the Lighthouse". The "Jan Jan" here on "Mozambique" might be a litte rougher, but in my opinion, gets the nod as slightly superior to the "Lighthouse" version. This tune captures Grant at his rhythmically soulful and agressive best. Grant's solo over the vamp on Clarence Carter's "Patches" is also one to hear. He tells the story and builds the intensity with his signature riff repetition and interaction with Idris Muhammad. Grant is clearly in charge on all the tunes, and as his solos end, he climbs back into the rhythm section and locks in with Foster and Muhammad. A good leader knows how to make his or her contribution out front, on the side, or in the background. Grant was a good leader.



"Live at Mozambique" represents an honest document of where this guitar master was on his musical journey during the early 70s. In contrast to the equally happening albums "Live at Lighthouse" and "Alive", Mozambique has slighly more grit (both sonically and playingwise) and gets the nod as one of Grant Green's top sessions of the late 60s-early 70s.



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