Feelin' the Spirit [RVG Edition]

Read About This Recording

One of the major jazz guitarists to emerge in the early 1960s, Grant Green emphasized single-note lines in his solos (almost never playing chords), was influenced as much by horn players as by guitarists and he had many opportunities to display his versatility when he was the house guitarist for the Blue Note label during the first half of the 1960s.

Born in St. Louis in 1931, Green was a professional by the time he was 13. He mostly played in the Midwest until moving to New York in 1960, one year after his recording debut with tenor-saxophonist Jimmy Forrest. During 1960-65 Green was heard as both a leader and a sideman on one great Blue Note album after another, playing bebop, soul jazz, hard bop and even spirituals, Latin jazz and Western songs. He excelled equally with organ combos and with all-star post bop groups. After a period off the scene, Green emerged as a more R&B-oriented player in the late 1960s but, despite taking a commercial turn in his music, he never gained quite the recognition he deserved. His career became erratic during the years before his premature death in 1979.

Feelin' the Spirit, from December 21, 1962, is Green's one gospel album. With pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Butch Warren, drummer Billy Higgins and Garvin Masseaux on tambourine, Green digs into such songs as "Just a Closer Walk With Thee," "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and "Deep River." The material might be unlikely for many jazz guitarists but Green sounds quite natural.

One cannot go wrong with any Blue Note CD that features the great Grant Green.

—Scott Yanow

Contents

Remastered!

Just a Closer Walk With Thee; Joshua Fit De Battle Ob Jericho; Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen; Go Down Moses; Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child; Deep River.*

(*Bonus track.)

Grant Green, Guitar; Herbie Hancock, Piano; Butch Warren, Bass; Billy Higgins, Drums; Garvin Masseaux, Tambourine.