Review of the two Grant Green Resonance releases

[CJ Shearn]

http://bit.ly/2IXBAm9

[jlhoots]

54 minutes ago, CJ Shearn said:

http://bit.ly/2IXBAm9

Thanks. I'm actually looking forward to hearing both of them. Shipped but not here yet.

[CJ Shearn]

^{You are welcome.}

[robertoart]

Great review CJ really enjoyed reading that!!!!

[CJ Shearn]

13 hours ago, robertoart said:

Great review CJ really enjoyed reading that!!!!

Thanks Robert, I hope my criticism of the drummers on Funk In France wasn't too much but it really stood out to me.  Listening to the originals of "Upshot" and "Hurt So Bad" put into context just how great Idris Muhammad's pockets are vs Billy Wilson.  Billy Wilson is good, and his approach is halfway between funk and swing, like James Gadson on "Use Me" or Jack DeJohnette on "Two Folk Songs" by Pat Metheny, but in those cases they really work.  Wilson is just no Muhammad  I'm listening to disc 1 The Round House and that disconnect between Lamond, Ridley and Green is still weird on the JB tune and not sure why he rushed on "Oleo".  One of my very good friends, was so dissatisfied with both Funk In France and Slick! he donated them to our local college alma mater station.

[hgweber]

good read. i think i commented on don lamond when the video came out. also ridley and kessel make quite a train-wreck of "i wish you love", playing the chords twice as fast to a visibly frustrated grant. 

[CJ Shearn]

4 hours ago, hgweber said:

good read. i think i commented on don lamond when the video came out. also ridley and kessel make quite a train-wreck of "i wish you love", playing the chords twice as fast to a visibly frustrated grant. 

Wow!  Thanks for pointing it out, I didn't realize that other than something seemed off in that performance.  It's very strange that a band that lacks so much chemistry, why would they release this other than a money grab?.  I wonder Resonance considered how not together many of these performances are at all when releasing these tapes.  I'm not sure if the Paris 1969-1970 things will do much to add to his legacy, as much as I enjoy the Resonance catalog, the Young, Evans, Montgomery in Paris, the Getz things and Thad and Mel sets do much to add to their body of official, known, work than the Funk In France set.  Yes it adds a piece of the puzzle to the discography officially, but as far as polish? No.

[hgweber]

i'm not sure how much money you can actually grab from releasing Grant Green material

the paris session could've been left alone, since there is video already. but i'm happy for everything new that we get. i mean, the holy barbarian session is probably not of great artistic value but gives a great snapshot of grant's development. surely there is historic value in releasing unissued material?

is it a bit odd how cuscuna likes this release so much when he is appearantly still sitting on better grant green material? and is it true that he writes in his liner notes that cannonball brought grant to NYC? wasn't that lou donaldson?

[robertoart]

4 hours ago, hgweber said:

i'm not sure how much money you can actually grab from releasing Grant Green material

the paris session could've been left alone, since there is video already. but i'm happy for everything new that we get. i mean, the holy barbarian session is probably not of great artistic value but gives a great snapshot of grant's development. surely there is historic value in releasing unissued material?

is it a bit odd how cuscuna likes this release so much when he is appearantly still sitting on better grant green material? and is it true that he writes in his liner notes that cannonball brought grant to NYC? wasn't that lou donaldson?

Yeah I think he's getting Wes Montgomery and Grant Green mixed up. Cannonball Adderley bought Wes Montgomery to the attention of Orrin Keepnews I believe. It was Lou Donaldson who got Grant to Blue Note. 

I'm personally glad these releases are out there. CJ's right about the drumming marring the overall standard of the band performances on Paris and Antibes. And to be fair, we don't know whether the drummer Billy Wilson was coming in cold for these gigs. Add that to the fact Clarence Palmer didn't have a B3 at his disposal, and the musicians are compromised right there. However I wouldn't want to be without either of these performances, they are precious documents. Slick I feel does add a lot of context to Grant's recorded legacy. From the liner notes, it seems the Oil Can Harry gig was given to Michael Cuscuna back in the day to try and obtain Grant a new recording contract, or thats what seems to be implied? 

I'm not sure what better Grant Green material Cuscana might be sitting on? Maybe the unissued Verve sessions or the Green Acid session. Although everything I've read here and elsewhere says the tapes haven't survived? Bob Porter also says in his book that the CTI Allstar concerts Grant was featured in (shortly after the Slick recordings?), were most likely not recorded - although that seems a bit odd to me as CTI seemed to do so much live recording of their roster? 

[hgweber]

i've heard from a reliable scource that there is another GG with ike quebec where grant is totally on fire.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, hgweber said:

i've heard from a reliable scource that there is another GG with ike quebec where grant is totally on fire.

Yeah, but the rest of the band is not.

[hgweber]

4 minutes ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Yeah, but the rest of the band is not.

i bet it's better than "standards" or the quartet recording with wynton kelly

[CJ Shearn]

On 6/3/2018 at 7:52 AM, robertoart said:

Yeah I think he's getting Wes Montgomery and Grant Green mixed up. Cannonball Adderley bought Wes Montgomery to the attention of Orrin Keepnews I believe. It was Lou Donaldson who got Grant to Blue Note. 

I'm personally glad these releases are out there. CJ's right about the drumming marring the overall standard of the band performances on Paris and Antibes. And to be fair, we don't know whether the drummer Billy Wilson was coming in cold for these gigs. Add that to the fact Clarence Palmer didn't have a B3 at his disposal, and the musicians are compromised right there. However I wouldn't want to be without either of these performances, they are precious documents. Slick I feel does add a lot of context to Grant's recorded legacy. From the liner notes, it seems the Oil Can Harry gig was given to Michael Cuscuna back in the day to try and obtain Grant a new recording contract, or thats what seems to be implied? 

I'm not sure what better Grant Green material Cuscana might be sitting on? Maybe the unissued Verve sessions or the Green Acid session. Although everything I've read here and elsewhere says the tapes haven't survived? Bob Porter also says in his book that the CTI Allstar concerts Grant was featured in (shortly after the Slick recordings?), were most likely not recorded - although that seems a bit odd to me as CTI seemed to do so much live recording of their roster? 

There are plenty of live CTI All Star dates I've gathered from both Doug Payne and Arnaldo deSouteiro's inferences on Doug's CTI discography that exist most likely in Sony's vaults.  For example, the entirety of the 1971 Southgate Palace concert, the CTI All Stars brief set at the Felt Forum in 1973, their Seattle show in July 1973 (which I have as an audience recording, smoking show) and in 1975 in NYC.  Creed Taylor recorded Stanley Turrentine opening for George Benson at Carnegie Hall and that's in the vaults as well.  Most importantly, I want to know if the 1972 Hollywood Bowl show exists sans overdubs.