To hear a short .wav excerpt
from a Grant Green solo, go here.
The music of guitarist Grant Green, born June 6, 1935 in St. Louis, is actually enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days. Known for his bluesy, cutting single-note style that mixed R&B with hard bop, Green was a big influence on George Benson, and the vintage soul-jazz sound of many of his records still holds appeal for all sorts of music fans, including jazz and rock guitar buffs, fans of funky club music, and smooth jazz aficionados.
As a result, in recent years, there have a number of CD reissues of Green's work, and even two books - Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar is a biography written by Sharony Andrews Green, a novelist, journalist, and former daughter-in-law of her subject, while St. Louis's own Mel Bay Publishing has issued Essential Jazz Lines in the Style of Grant Green for Guitar, a method book written by the fine local guitarist Corey Christiansen.
And there's lots of stuff about Green on the Web, including an official site, a couple of reasonably informative short biographies, at least two fan sites that are worth a look, and two discographies (one with extensive personnel listings, the other with photos of the album covers). You can also find transcriptions and musical analysis of Green's solos on "The Best Things In Life Are Free," "Old Folks," and "Dog It".
Sadly, Green had a problem with heroin for a large part of his adult life, which contributed to his death in 1979 at just 44 years old. But with more than 90 recordings in his lifetime, there's still plenty of his music around for all to enjoy, and it's good to see his work getting the positive reappraisal it deserves.
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