Some of Grant Green’s hottest moments as a jazz-funk bandleader came on his live records of the era, which were filled with extended, smoking grooves and gritty ensemble interplay. Live at the Lighthouse makes a fine companion piece to the excellent Alive!, though there are some subtle differences which…

Grant Green’s second session with organist Larry Young, Street of Dreams brings back drummer Elvin Jones and adds Bobby Hutcherson on vibes for a mellow, dreamy album that lives up to its title. There are only four selections, all standards and all around eight to ten minutes long, and…

The third of three sessions Grant Green co-led with modal organist Larry Young and Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones, I Want to Hold Your Hand continues in the soft, easy style of its predecessor, Street of Dreams. This time, however — as one might guess from the title and cover…

Solid is a companion piece to the Grant Green classic Matador, recorded about a month later with the same rhythm section, and also not issued until 1979. Green is once again accompanied by the Coltrane supporting team of pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, plus bassist Bob Cranshaw;…

The second album of Grant Green’s thorough jazz-funk makeover, Green Is Beautiful finds the guitarist growing more comfortable with harder, funkier R&B than he seemed on the softer-hued Carryin’ On. The switch from Fender Rhodes electric piano back to the more traditional Hammond organ certainly helps give the session…

Alive! is the hardest funk LP Grant Green recorded during the later phase of his career, capturing a storming gig at Newark’s Cliché Lounge. The sweaty club atmosphere adds something to the music that’s difficult to pin down, yet unmistakably present — a certain organic quality that isn’t as…

Grant Green recorded so much high-quality music for Blue Note during the first half of the ’60s that a number of excellent sessions went unissued at the time. Even so, it’s still hard to figure out why 1964’s Matador was only released in Japan in 1979, prior to its…

Although Grant Green provided his share of groove-oriented soul-jazz and modal post-bop, his roots were hard bop, and it is in a bop-oriented setting that the guitarist excels on Born to Be Blue. Most of the material on this five-star album was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey…

Broadening his musical palette, Grant Green detoured into a number of “theme” sessions in 1962 — the light Latin jazz of The Latin Bit; the country & western standards of Goin’ West; and the best of the bunch, the old-time gospel album Feelin’ the Spirit. For Feelin’ the Spirit,…

Trumpeter Donald Byrd and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams worked together on several recordings between 1958 and 1961, and The Cat Walk (released on LP in 1962) is among the best. A quintet setting, with pianist Duke Pearson (another longtime Byrd collaborator), bassist Laymon Jackson, and a lively Philly Joe…