Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists."
Biography
Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, Grant began studying guitar while he was in primary school. He received early instruction in guitar playing from his father, who played blues and folk music. Grant studied for a year with Forrest Alcorn, but he was mostly self-taught, learning from listening to records.
Green first performed in a professional setting at the age of 13 as a member of a gospel music ensemble.
Despite his first session being shelved, Green's recording relationship with Blue Note lasted, with a few exceptions, throughout the 1960s. From 1961 to 1965, Green made more appearances on Blue Note albums as leader or sideman than anyone else. His first album as a leader was Grant's First Stand followed in the same year by Green Street and Grantstand. and Solid (1964) are described by jazz critics as two of Green's best recordings.
Many of Green's recordings were not released during his lifetime. These include several albums with pianist Sonny Clark recorded in 1961–1962 included in The Complete Grant Green & Sonny Clark released by Mosaic in 1997, and two albums from 1964 (Matador and Solid) that featured McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones from the John Coltrane Quartet. In 1966, Green left Blue Note
Artistry and equipment
Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms throughout his career. Critic Michael Erlewine wrote, "A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar ... Green's playing is immediately recognizable – perhaps more than any other guitarist." Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as "lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy". The simplicity and immediacy of Green's playing, which tended to avoid chromaticism, derived from his early work playing rhythm and blues and, although he achieved a synthesis of this style with bop, he was a skilled blues and funk guitarist and returned to this style in his later career. According to jazz educator Wolf Marshall, "Grant Green's unique mixture of bebop, blues and funk distinguished him as one of the quintessential soul jazz/hard bop guitarists from the get-go."