Grass Roots / Grass Is Greener

Grassella Oliphant | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 29, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collectables
• ASIN: B000BDH4QY
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #363,834 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. One for the Masses

2. The Descendant

3. Stardust

4. Uptown Hours

5. Mrs. O

6. Haitan Lady

7. Shiny Stockings

8. Grandfather's Waltz

9. Step Lightly

10. Mood Indigo

11. Get Out of My Life Woman

12. Ain't That Peculiar

13. Soul Woman

14. Peaches Are Better Down the Road

15. The Yodel

16. Cantaloupe Woman

17. The Latter Days

18. Rapid Shave

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Odd Pianoless Pairing, May 24, 2011

By 

Charles O "chuck" (Seattle, Wa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Grass Roots / Grass Is Greener (Audio CD)

A two-fer compact disc with as you would expect, two different lineups. Both are fronted by Grassella Oliphant, whose drumming doesn't intrude at all, and include saxophonist Harold Ousley, who contributes six songs across both sets and navigates the two different styles with ease. The first, the Grass Roots, features Bobby Hutcherson on vibes without piano accompaniment, for a sparer overall sound which is like nectar for mallet fans. The sound of his bars has a different tambour than I'm used to, as if it was miked very close, as you would expect with no other harmony instrument. The standards include a fast Mood Indigo and Joe Henderson's Step Lightly, played for a lush effect. The album is straight-ahead hard-bop.
The second album, The Grass is Greener, includes Grant Green on guitar, John Patton, organ, and Clark Terry, brass. It's a soul jazz outing, with Get Out of My Life Woman, Ain't That Peculiar, and Cantaloupe Woman along with other tasty items like Peaches Are Better Down the Road, by Clark Terry (which is mistakenly swapped with Soul Woman in the liner notes). Joe Patton is wonderfully soulful and Grant Green's solos are great, though his comping is repetitive when Patton is soloing, something I hadn't noticed as he usually doesn't have to.
Overall, the first album is not a must-have unless you're a Hutcherson fan, but the second is extremely tasty for toe-tapping fans of soul-jazz.