Grant Green

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Grant Green (born June 6, 1935 in St. Louis , Missouri , † January 31, 1979 in New York ) was an American jazz guitarist and composer .

Life

Green performed as a musician at the age of 13. At a young age he was influenced by the music of Charlie Christian and Charlie Parker . First he played boogie-woogie , later he switched to rhythm and blues and jazz. He made his first recording in St. Louis with the tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest ; the band's drummer was Elvin Jones , the pianist Harold Mabern . He also played in the bands of Sam Lazar (1960) and Jack Murphy. He was eventually discovered by Lou Donaldson while playing in a bar in St. Louis. After touring with Donaldson, he came to New York in the fall of 1960.

Donaldson introduced him to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records announced. Lion was so impressed by Grant that he hired him straight away as the band leader. This relationship lasted, with a few exceptions, throughout the 1960s. Between 1960 and 1965 he made more records than anyone else with Blue Note as a leader or band member; Among his outstanding albums were his quartet recordings with Sonny Clark 1961/62, Blue and Sentimental with Ike Quebec and the album Idle Moments with Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson . His first album as a band leader was "Grant's First Stand". His linear guitar work in the organ trios of Jack McDuff , John Patton and Larry Young was considered trend-setting at the time. He played with jazz greats such as B. Lee Morgan ( Search for the New Land 1964), Hank Mobley , Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine, and Harold Vick . Grant was named Down Beat's Best Newcomer in 1962.

In 1966, Grant left Blue Note to record for various other labels, including Verve Records . Between 1967 and 1969 he did not record any records due to personal problems and the side effects of his heroin addiction.

In 1969 he came back on stage with a more funk-oriented band. The commercial success Green Is Beautiful and the soundtrack for The Final Comedown also fell during this period . Grant left Blue Note again in 1974 to pursue more commercial projects.

Grant spent most of 1978 in hospital. Against the advice of his doctors, he went on tour again. In New York he played with George Benson . Grant died of a heart attack on January 31, 1979 at the age of 43. He was buried in his hometown of St. Louis and had six children.

reception

During the acid jazz wave of the late 1980s, Grant Green's records and sound were discovered by a new audience. Samples from his pieces were widely used in hip-hop in the early 1990s .

Samples

  • 1991: A Tribe Called Quest - Vibes and Stuff ( The Low End Theory , Jive Records ) includes a sample from Down Here on the Ground ( Alive ! , Blue Note, 1970)
  • 1991: Cypress Hill - Stoned Is the Way of the Walk ( Cypress Hill , Ruffhouse) contains a sample from Down Here on the Ground ( Alive!, Blue Note, 1970)
  • 1992: Eric B. & Rakim - Kick Along ( Don't Sweat the Technique , MCA 1992) contains a sample from Upshot ( Carryin 'On , Blue Note, 1970)
  • 1992: Public Enemy - Gotta Do What I Gotta Do ( Greatest Misses , Def Jam ) contains a sample from Ain't It Funky Now ( Green Is Beautiful , Blue Note, 1970)
  • 1993: Us3 - Tukka Yoot's Riddim ( Hand on the Torch , Blue Note) contains a sample from Sookie Sookie ( Alive ! , Blue Note, 1970)
  • 1996: Étienne de Crécy - Prix ​​Choc ( Super Discount ) contains a sample from Hurt So Bad ( Carryin 'On , Blue Note, 1969)
  • 2012: Kendrick Lamar used samples from Maybe Tomorrow (by Visions , 1971) for his song Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst (on Good Kid, MAAD City ).
  • 2017: Mr Jukes (aka Jack Steadman from Bombay Bicycle Club ) used an excerpt from Ain't It Funky Now for the track Grant Green (feat. Charles Bradley ) ( God First , Island Records, 2017)

Selected discography

As a band leader

  • The Holy Barbarian, St. Louis, 1959 (Uptown, 1959), with Sam Lazar, Bob Graf, Chauncey Williams
  • Space Flight ( Cawthron , 1960), with Sam Lazar
  • 1960: First Session ( Blue Note Records , 2001)
  • 1961: Grant's First Stand (Blue Note, BLP 4064)
  • 1961: Green Blues ( Muse Records , MR-5014; 1973)
  • 1961: Green Street (Blue Note, BLP 4071)
  • 1961: Sunday Mornin ' (Blue Note, BLP 4099; 1962)
  • 1961/62: The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark (Blue Note; 1997)
  • 1962: Born to Be Blue (Blue Note; 1985)
  • 1962: Feelin 'the Spirit (Blue Note; 1963)
  • 1962: Nigeria (Blue Note; 1980)
  • 1963: Blues for Lou (Blue Note; 1999)
  • 1963: Idle Moments (Blue Note, BLP 4154; 1965)
  • 1964: Talkin 'About! (Blue note)
  • 1964: Street of Dreams (Blue Note; 1966)
  • 1969: Carryin 'On (Blue Note; 1970)
  • 1969/70: Funk in France: From Paris to Antibes (1969-1970) (Resonance, ee. 2018)
  • 1970: Green Is Beautiful (Blue Note, BST 84342)
  • 1970: Alive! (Blue note)
  • 1972: Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note)
  • 1975: Slick! - Live at Oil Can Harry’s (Resonance; 2018)

As a sideman

for Lou Donaldson
  • 1961: Here 'Tis (Blue Note)
  • 1961/63: A Man with a Horn (Blue Note; 1999)
  • 1963: Good Gracious! (Blue Note; 1964)
  • 1965: Musty Rusty (Cadet)
for Charles Kynard
  • 1969: The Soul Brotherhood ( Prestige Records , PR 7630), with Blue Mitchell (tp) a. a.
  • 1970: Afro-Disiac (Prestige, PR 7796)
for Reuben Wilson

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to the jazz newspaper, his year of birth is controversial; 1931 is set there. Other sources, including his biographer Sharon Andrews Green and Feather / Gitler, cite 1935.
  2. ^ Feather / Gitler
  3. ↑ Whosampled.com : Grant Green's music sampled from others .
  4. ↑ Whosampled Maybe Tomorrow .
personal data
SURNAME Green, Grant
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz guitarist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri , USA
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1979
Place of death New York , USA