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November 2004:
Kenny Burrell, Grant Green and Wes Montgomery were
three of the finest guitarists from the 1950s and 1960s. Burrell and
Green were regulars on the Blue Note label (both as sideman and
leaders); Wes recorded for Riverside/Prestige, as well as for Verve. All
three were from Eastern sections of the Midwest region: Kenny from
Detroit, Grant from St. Louis and Wes from Indianapolis.
The most important album
for Montgomery was The Incredible Jazz Guitar, released in
1960. The opening track, a 4-and-a-half minute take of Sonny Rollins’
Airegin, is performed at a speed fast enough to give you a heart
attack. Tommy Flanagan accompanies Wes the same way he complemented
Coltrane on Giant Steps of the previous year. The Heath
Brothers make up the rest of the rhythm section. Some said that
Wes was the best thing to happen to jazz guitar since Charlie Christian
played with Benny Goodman. Wes was discovered earlier in the 1950s
when Cannonball Adderley traveled to his home town for a one night
engagement at a local club. A Dynamic Duo formed when record
producers at Verve paired Wes with Jimmy Smith (in a big-band setting).
Grant Green was the “house
guitarist” for Blue Note during the 1960s. I’ve listened to so many of
the albums he is featured on (as both a sideman and leader) and I have
to say that the most memorable track is his reworking of Gershwin’s
It Ain’t Necessarily So on The Complete Quartet Sessions with
Sonny Clark. My fellow North Floridian Sam Jones is on the date (he
hailed from Jacksonville) and is paired with the incomparable Art Blakey,
who starts hollering instructions to “Don’t Stop” when things start to
heat up in the improv. The descending bass line is catchy; the
reconstructed melody is even more addictive- don’t miss this piece. On
1962s The Latin Bit (which features the underrated Ike Quebec on
tenor sax) the highlights are Tico Tico and Beasame Mucho.
The former has the classic blue note “hard” swing to it; the latter is a
contemporary rendition of a standard that is worthy of more attention.
I admire Yusef Lateef, so therefore I recommend the album Grantstand (Yusef is on over half the tracks). Yet if you only buy one
Grant Green album, make it Feelin’ The Spirit. The two top
tracks off this album (which feature a young Herbie Hancock playing his
heart out) are Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho and Go Down
Moses: these two pieces of gold will teach you everything you need
to know about the Protestant work ethic (expressed through Sunday
Southern-Baptist Church music.) Also check out Grant’s extraordinary
sideman work on Hank Mobley’s Workout session.
Kenny Burrell successfully
launched a double album in the 1960s called Blue Lights. It was
actually released as two separate LPs and now is sold as one double disc
set. It features Donald Byrd playing Caravan the way Tizol must
have originally conceived it (something emerging out of a Daliesque
desert from the painting titled Sleep.) Burrell did stellar
sideman work for Kenny Dorham at the Café Bohemia in the 1950s. Check
out his exceptional solos from that series of gigs (under the album name
Round ‘About Midnight) on Mexico City (the alternate take)
and A Night in Tunisia. Today Kenny is in high demand, making
very well received albums for his new record label. |