GUITAR DAD

 
 

The late Grant Green never hit it big like fellow jazz guitarists George Benson and Wes Montgomery. His career was brief and bumpy, marred by a three-year absence from performing in the late 1960s because of heroin addiction and its attendant evils.

But guitarists in the know are deeply grateful for his bluesy sensibility and sparkling tone. I'm an obsessive fan of his straight-ahead jazz on the Blue Note label from 1962-1966 and, to a lesser extent, his funk-influenced later work.

The only video I can find of Green is this concise clip from the mid-70s, when he shared the stage with Kenny Burrell and Barney Kessel, jazz giants in their own right. The immensively gifted Green would be dead of a heart attack just a few years later, in 1979, at the much-too-early age of 43.

 


Comments

Lyle Robinson

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:36:32

Hi GuitarDad. Just wanted to say thanks for the post about Grant Green. He is indeed an artists who should have gained wider recognition in the public sphere but sadly he did not. There has been a resurgence within the past two decades or so and a lot of his material has been reissued which is cool but a tad too late for Grant. I hear his son has taken up the mantle so to speak but I haven;t heard anything other than that. I will try and find out more abut GG jr. and maybe get to interview him at some point. Take care and thanks again for the post and the Blog...I'm enjoying reading your thoughts. Al the best.

Lyle

 



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