John Grant

"Big" John Patton - Oh Baby! (1965) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD UCCQ-5113 rel 2015} (24-192 remaster)
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© 1965, 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5113
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Funk / Organ Hammond B-3

Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. Oh Baby is right – as the album's one of the best John Patton albums for Blue Note – a perfect mix of funky organ and burning hardbop! The tracks hare are all originals penned for the album – mostly by Patton, but also by other group members – the kind of fresh grooves that made John's organ work for Blue Note really stand out from the rest of the 60s Hammond generation – very creative stuff, with occasional modern touches, and a rhythmic conception that's not only unusual, but which also really lets the soloists stretch out on their grooves! Players include Harold Vick on tenor, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Ben Dixon on drums, and Grant Green on guitar – and the album's about as sharp as you can get for a Blue Note organ session. Titles include "Fat Judy", "Each Time", "One To Twelve", and "Night Flight".

When you're a musician used to a certain creative groove, it's disorienting to have this rhythm disrupted. But that was just the position Grant-Lee Phillips found himself in spring 2020: Months before the release of a new full-length, Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff — an album he was already previewing on an early 2020 tour with John Doe and Kristin Hersh — the pandemic led to the cancellation of tour dates and other promotional plans.

Grant Green & Donald Byrd - His Majesty King Funk & Up With Donald Byrd (1995) {Verve 559 621-2 rec 1964-1965}
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© 1964-65, 1995 Verve / PolyGram | 559 621-2 | Jazz: The Verve Collection Series
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Guitar / Trumpet

2 of the grooviest Verve 60s jazz funk sessions on one CD! Grant Green's His Majesty King Funk is a tight quintet session with Larry Young on organ and Harold Vick on tenor, and it grooves with a tightness that matches Green's best Blue Note sessions. The album is reissued here with the tracks in their full versions, and titles include "The Selma March", "Daddy Grapes", and "The Cantaloupe Woman". The record is paired with Donald Byrd's groovy Up album, a record that has his funky trumpet playing with a larger group arranged by Herbie Hancock, that also features some added vocal backing at times. The record has a very tasty version of "Cantaloupe Island", plus the cuts "Blind Man, Blind Man", "Bossa", and "Boom, Boom". Nice groovy 60's material, with 14 cuts in all!

"Big" John Patton - Got A Good Thing Goin' (1966) {Blue Note Japan TOCJ-4229 rel 1997}
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© 1966, 1997 Blue Note / Toshiba-EMI | TOCJ-4229 | 20bit/88kHz mastering
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Blues / Hammond Organ

Grant Green always brought out the best in Big John Patton. Almost any record that featured the guitarist and organist was dominated by their scintillating interplay, and it always sounded like they were trying to top each other's blistering, funky solos. Patton and Green rarely sounded better than they did on Got a Good Thing Goin', a 1966 session that functioned as a showcase for the pair's dynamic interaction and exciting, invigorating solos. In particular, the duo's mastery is evident because there are no horns to stand in the way – only drummer Hugh Walker and conga player Richard Landrum provide support, leaving plenty of room for Green and Patton to run wild.

This new release from BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra led by Grant Llewellyn features Violin Concertos by exclusively British composers, including Paul Patterson, Kenneth Leighton, and Gordon Jacob. The featured soloist in these works is violinist Clare Howick. Described by The Strad as "playing with beguiling warmth and affection" and by American Record Guide as "simply spectacular", Clare Howick is at the forefront of a generation of inspiring violinists. As a champion of new music, Clare has premiered many new works, both on disc and in performance. She recently gave the world premiere performance at St John's Smith Square of Violin Concerto No.2 ('Serenade') by Paul Patterson, a song-like, wistful and exuberantly sparkling work, which was specially written for her. This is the piece's world premiere recording.

Grant Green - The Holy Barbarian, St. Louis, 1959 (2012) {Uptown Records UPCD 27.68 rec 1959-60}
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© 1959, 2012 Uptown Records | UPCD 27.68
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Guitar / Organ

Grant Green's star rose after his signing to Blue Note in 1960, though he appeared as a sideman on several releases during the 1950s. These previously unissued live recordings, made in 1959 and 1960 at the Holy Barbarian Coffee House in St. Louis, document some of his earliest work. Although the music wasn't taped professionally, the sound is quite good, with several extended performances. The St. Louis native is joined by tenor saxophonist Bob Graf (a former Woody Herman sideman who had returned to his hometown), the somewhat obscure organist Sam Lazar, and drummer Chauncey Williams, though none of the three have very large discographies.

This languid, seductive gem may well be Grant Green's greatest moment on record. Right from the opening bars of the classic title cut, Idle Moments is immediately ingratiating and accessible, featuring some of Green's most stylish straight jazz playing. Allmusic *****