Green, S And Palmer

Nearly forgotten by all but serious soul fans, Back Up Train is Al Green's debut. Released in 1967, when he was still billed as "Al Greene" and before he worked with producer Willie Mitchell, the record is a perfectly serviceable slice of slightly sweet period soul - perhaps a little generic, but never less than pleasant. Much of the record was either written or co-written by the album's producers, Palmer E. James and Curtis Rodgers, who were not just part of Hot Line Records, but in the Creations, Green's previous backing band. Though they're fine as producers, they didn't have strong material as songwriters, never producing something as limber and memorable as Green's lone songwriting credit, "Stop and Check Myself." Musically, this number, along with a few other cuts, suggest the tight, sexy sound of his seminal Hi albums, but they're nowhere near as seductive as those slow grooves, nor are they as effortless…

Grant Green - For The Funk Of It (1969-1971) {Blue Note 7243 5 60141 2 1 rel 2005}
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© 1969-1971, 2005 Blue Note / Capitol | 7243 5 60141 2
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Guitar

For the Funk of It is the second thematically focused volume in Blue Note's Original Jam Master Series that draws from guitarist Grant Green's late-period recordings for the label, from 1969 to 1972. Some of the players involved in these sessions include drummer Idris Muhammad, saxophonist Claude Bartee, Jr., Cornell Dupree (rhythm guitar), percussionists Hall Bobby Porter and Ray Armando, bassist Chuck Rainey, organist Emanuel Riggins, and many others. The material here is less bombastic than the soul and funk covers on Green's Ain't It Funky Now!, but they are still deep in the jukebox soul-jazz groove that was rapidly disappearing during the era.

Al Cohn, Joe Newman & Freddie Green - Mosaic Select (2007) {3CD Set, Mosaic Records MS-027 rec 1955}
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© 1955, 2007 RCA Victor / Mosaic / BMG Music | MS-027
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet / Sax / Guitar

This Mosaic compilation draws from material that comprised five separate RCA Victor LPs of the 1950: Al Cohn's The Natural Seven and The Jazz Workshop: Four Brass, One Tenor, Freddie Green's Mr. Rhythm, plus two Joe Newman records, All I Wanna Do Is Swing and I'm Still Swinging. Cohn, Green, and Newman are the common element to all of the recording sessions, leading bands ranging from septets to nonets.The Natural Seven was inspired by the Kansas City Seven drawn from the Count Basie band of the 1930s, and while the arrangements by Cohn and Manny Albam swing lightly in the style of Basie's septet, the focus is more on originals written for the session rather than simply recreating earlier recordings.

Grant Green - Carryin' On (1969) {Blue Note Rare Groove Series}
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© 1969, 1995 Blue Note / Capitol Records | CDP 7243 8 31247 2 5
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Guitar

Reissued on CD as part of Blue Note's Rare Groove series, Carryin' On was Grant Green's first album for Blue Note since 1965, an absence of four years during which he recorded just two albums for other labels. Green's return was accompanied by a seismic shift in direction – Carryin' On was an album of commercially accessible jazz-funk with a heavy R&B influence, plus miles and miles of Fender Rhodes electric piano. It would typify Green's approach over the next few years, which later made him a hero among acid-jazz aficionados, even though it was the last thing purists wanted to hear from him.

Formed more than twenty years after departing another band he formed (The Enid), Francis Lickerish is back with another talented assemblage of musicians with classic and folk roots, fertile imaginations and an abundance of mature talent. Secret Green has hit the ground running with the well-formed studio release 'To Wake the King' and a live show lineup that features both original material as well as Enid standards. The band's melodic, sometimes medieval instrumental arrangements as well as the angelic vocals of Hilary Palmer make for a rich musical experience.

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums…