View source for Grant Green

{{short description|American jazz guitarist and composer (1935–1979)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=March 2022}}{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{About other people|the jazz guitarist and composer}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name             = Grant Green
| image            = Grant Green guitarist.jpg
| caption          = 
| image_size       = 
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1935|06|06}}
| birth_place      = [[St. Louis]], Missouri, U.S.
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1979|01|31|1935|06|06}}
| death_place      = [[New York City]], U.S.
| genre            = {{flatlist|
*[[Jazz]]
* [[bebop]]
* [[hard bop]]
* [[soul jazz]]
* [[jazz-funk]]}}
| occupation       = {{flatlist|
* Musician
* songwriter}}
| instrument       = Guitar
| years_active     = 1959{{snd}}1978
| label            = {{flatlist|
*[[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]]
*[[Verve Records|Verve]]
*[[Kudu Records|Kudu]]}}
}}

'''Grant Green''' (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American [[jazz guitarist]] and composer.<ref name="Larkin60">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0149-X|pages=219/20}}</ref>

Green has been called one of the "most [[Sampling (music)|sampled]] guitarists."<ref name="Wolf, Marshall page 46">{{cite book|author=Wolf, Marshall. |title=Jazz Guitar Icons |page =46|publisher=Hal Leonard|quote=Green's current reputation [is being] one of the "most sampled guitarists."}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]],<ref name="Larkin60"/> to John and Martha Green. At various times his father was a laborer and a Saint Louis policeman.<ref>Green (1999), p. 31.</ref> Grant began studying guitar while he was in primary school.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Feather |first=Leonard |url=http://archive.org/details/biographicalency00feat |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507418-5 |pages=272 |language=en}}</ref> He received early instruction in guitar playing from his father,<ref name="Yanow">{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Jazz Singers |date=2008 |publisher=Backbeat |location=Milwaukee, WI |isbn=978-0-87930-825-4 |page=85}}</ref> 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.

Grant Green first performed in a professional setting at the age of 13 as a member of a [[gospel music]] ensemble.<ref name="Yanow" /><ref name="Erlewine" /> Through his 20s, he was a member of jazz and R&B bands.<ref name="Yanow" /> His influences were [[Charlie Christian]], [[Charlie Parker]],<ref name="Yanow" /> [[Lester Young]], and [[Jimmy Raney]]. Green's style mimicked that of a saxophonist playing single note rather than chords.<ref name="Yanow" /> His first recordings were at the age of 24, in St. Louis with tenor saxophonist [[Jimmy Forrest (musician)|Jimmy Forrest]]<ref name="Yanow" /> for the United label, where Green played alongside drummer [[Elvin Jones]]. Green recorded with Jones for several albums in the mid-1960s. In 1959, [[Lou Donaldson]] discovered Green<ref name="Yanow" /> playing at  a bar in St. Louis (the Tick Tock or the Pink Elephant) and hired him for his touring band. Green moved to [[New York City]] during 1959–60.

Donaldson introduced Green to [[Alfred Lion]] of [[Blue Note Records]]. From 1961–1965 he was Blue Note's house guitarist.<ref name="Yanow" /> Rather than using Green as a sideman, as was the  Blue Note practice, Lion arranged for him to record as a group leader. However due to Green's lack of confidence, the initial recording session was only released in 2001 as ''[[First Session (Grant Green album)|First Session]]''.<ref name="First">{{cite web |last1=Lankford |first1=Ronnie D. |title=Grant Green - First Session |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-session-mw0000111682 |website=AllMusic |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Introduction">{{cite web |last1=Pert |first1=Derek |title=Grant Green - An Introduction |url=http://www.audio-ideas.com/columns/grant-green.html |access-date=2 October 2023 |date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112337/http://www.audio-ideas.com/columns/grant-green.html |archive-date=April 2, 2015 }}</ref>

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]]''.<ref name="Larkin60"/> He was named Best New Star in the ''[[Down Beat]]'' Critics' Poll, in 1962. He often provided support to others musicians on Blue Note, including saxophonists [[Hank Mobley]], [[Ike Quebec]], [[Stanley Turrentine]], and organist [[Larry Young (jazz)|Larry Young]].

''Sunday Mornin''', ''The Latin Bit'' and ''Feelin' the Spirit'' are all [[concept album]]s, each taking a musical theme or style: [[Gospel music|gospel]], [[Latin music (genre)|Latin]] and [[spiritual (music)|spiritual]]s respectively. Grant carried off his more commercial dates with artistic success during this period: ''Idle Moments'' (1963), featuring [[Joe Henderson]] and [[Bobby Hutcherson]]<ref name="Idle">{{cite web |last1=Huey |first1=Steve |title=Grant Green - Idle Moments |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/idle-moments-mw0000667324 |website=AllMusic |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en |quote=This languid, seductive gem may well be Grant Green's greatest moment on record.}}</ref> and ''[[Solid (Grant Green album)|Solid]]'' (1964),<ref name="Solid">{{cite web |last1=Huey |first1=Steve |title=Grant Green - Solid |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/solid-mw0000645822 |website=AllMusic |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en |quote=Solid is one of Green's strongest jazz outings and a unique standout in his catalog.}}</ref> are described by jazz critics{{who|date=September 2025}} 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''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Records|first=Mosaic|date=2021-04-21|title=Grant Green - Mosaic Records|url=https://www.mosaicrecords.com/the-great-jazz-artists/grant-green|access-date=2021-07-21 |website=Mosaic Records |language=en-US}}</ref> released by [[Mosaic Records|Mosaic]] in 1997, and two albums from 1964 (''[[Matador (Grant Green album)|Matador]]'' and ''[[Solid (Grant Green album)|Solid]]'') that featured [[McCoy Tyner]] and [[Elvin Jones]] from the [[John Coltrane|John Coltrane Quartet]]. In 1966 Green left Blue Note<ref name="Yanow" /> and recorded for other labels including [[Verve Records|Verve]]. From 1967 to 1969 he was inactive due to personal problems and the effects of [[drug addiction|heroin addiction]].<ref name="Yanow" />  In 1969 he returned to Blue Note but played mostly in R&B settings.<ref name="Yanow" /> His recordings from that period include the commercially successful ''[[Green Is Beautiful]]'' and the soundtrack to the film ''[[The Final Comedown]]''.

For most of 1978 Grant was in the hospital<ref name="Yanow" /> and against the advice of doctors, went back on the road to earn money. While in New York City to play an engagement at [[George Benson]]'s Breezin' Lounge, he collapsed in his car after a heart attack and died on January 31, 1979.<ref name="Larkin60"/> He was buried in [[Greenwood Cemetery (Hillsdale, Missouri)|Greenwood Cemetery]] in his hometown of St. Louis and was survived by six children, including his son [[Grant Green Jr.]], who is also a guitarist.

==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 jazz|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."<ref name="Erlewine">{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Michael |title=Grant Green Biography, Songs, & Albums |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/grant-green-mn0000738855/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as "lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy".<ref name="Hunter">{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Dave |title=Get that Tone |url=http://www.gibsonguitar.es/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Get-That-Tone_-Green-Street-er.aspx |access-date=2 October 2023 |date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125134517/http://www.gibsonguitar.es/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Get-That-Tone_-Green-Street-er.aspx |archive-date=January 25, 2018 }}</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}} 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."<ref name="Wolf, Marshall page 46"/>

He often performed in an [[organ trio]], a small group featuring a [[Hammond organ]] and drummer. Apart from fellow guitarist [[Charlie Christian]], Green's primary influences were saxophonists, particularly [[Charlie Parker]], and his approach was  almost exclusively linear rather than chordal. He rarely played [[rhythm guitar]] except as a sideman on albums led by other musicians.<ref name="Forgotten">{{cite book |last1=Andrews Green |first1=Sharony |title=Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar |date=1999 |publisher=Backbeat |page=224 |quote=To hear [Grant] comp behind a soloist you have to check out some of his sideman dates}}</ref>

Green used a [[Gibson ES-330]], then a Gibson L7 with a Gibson McCarty [[pickguard]]/[[Pickup (music technology)|pickup]], an [[Epiphone]] Emperor (with the same pickup), and finally had a custom-built [[D'Aquisto]]. According to his protégé and fellow guitarist Benson, Grant achieved his tone by turning off the bass and treble settings of his amplifier as well as maximizing the midrange. That way he could get his signature punchy, biting tone.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

== Discography ==
{{Main|Grant Green discography}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{Discogs artist}}
*{{musicbrainz artist|id=1a88b270-d763-48d5-a62c-2bb9cabb140c|name=Grant Green}}
*{{Find a Grave|41378175}}
*[http://www.jazzdisco.org/green Grant Green] discography project
*[http://www.jazzlists.com/SJ_Grant_Green.htm Grant Green] discography at Jazzlists
*[https://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/grant-green/ Playing Jazz Guitar in the Style of Grant Green]

{{Grant Green}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Grant}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:American jazz guitarists]]
[[Category:African-American jazz guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:Soul-jazz guitarists]]
[[Category:Hard bop guitarists]]
[[Category:Jazz-funk guitarists]]
[[Category:Blue Note Records artists]]
[[Category:Muse Records artists]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Missouri]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from St. Louis]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:CTI Records artists]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:Vashon High School alumni]]