Customer Reviews

Green Is Beautiful (24bt) (Mlps)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First thing's first- this is Grant Green with Idris Muhammad on drums. These two guys deserve 5 stars just for pairing up. Check out the songs: Aint it Funky Now, Windjammer & Dracula- that's reason enough for me to list this one in my top 20 jazz/funk favorites. Go get it and be happy you did before Blue Note takes away the goods.

I like Grant Green's funky period. This is a great cd from that period; and "Carryin' On" is great too. Idris Muhammed is the greatest funky jazz drummer of all time. Essential groove music.

Presents an octet recording session held by electric jazz guitarist Grant Green in 1970 with Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Claude Bartee on tenor sax backed by organ, electric bass, and three percussionists (including Idris Muhammad on the drum kit). Blue Note featured this performance of Lennon & McCartney's "A Day in the Life" on its compilation CD, Blue Note Plays the Beatles. It's an interesting arrangement of the Beatles number, which in the original is divided into parts with different melodies. In this version, the organ offers a brief prelude to set up the dominant melody ("I saw the news today..."), which Green plays dutifully once before setting off a series of solos (guitar, sax, organ). They then resolve into the second theme ("Woke up, got outta bed...") before Green lets loose a second solo distinct from the first not only because of his playing but also because a gradually rising organ chord behind him adds a hopeless and foreboding feeling that the first, bluesy solo lacked. This guitar/organ sound can be difficult for many modern listeners; I've heard it described as "cheesy" or "creepy" or (more politely) dated. But if you can get past it, some of this stuff is great jazz.

My first funky Jazz album not to mention Grant Green's smooth Jazz rhythms. Get this album it's beyond extraordinary especially if you are just getting into Jazz. Emotional and not to complex melodies allow writing or just abstract thinking while listening to these moving pieces. Superior jogging music keeps you moving while it allows for thoughts to compel and expel from the mind.

I'm an avid Grant Green fan, with 7 of his albums already in my collection. This is a weak CD and only two tracks caught my ears. "Ain't it funky now" is a standard jazz-funk number driven by Idris Muhammed's peerless drumming, however his version of Lennon/McCartneys "A day in the life" is something altogether better.

After an unpromising start in which Green states the theme a couple of times, the band soars off into the most uplifting improvisation, starting with Green and ending with an excellent saxophone solo, buoyed up by some rare rythym playing.

Is it worth the money? Well, there are better Grant Green CDs in Amazon's catalogue, but for die-hard Grant Green fans and guitarists hunting novel licks, this might be worth buying.

Excellent version of "Ain't it Funky Now" w/Blue Mitchell (tpt).