Grant Green - Retrospective 1961-66 (2002) (4CD Box Set)Label: Blue Note, Capitol | 4CD | MP3 320 kbps | 713 MB
Genre: Jazz, Hard Bop, Jazz-Funk, Soul Jazz, Guitar
Simply put, this is a very decent four-disc collection of the work of guitarist Grant Green. It features tracks from his many albums as a leader and some as a sideman with others, such as Lee Morgan, John Patton, Baby Face Willette, and Sonny Clark. His early-'60s sides are here along with most of his defining cuts from the '60s, from hard bop to soul-jazz to ballads to gospel -- everything most fans would ever want is here, including his late blues sides recorded in the bars of Detroit in 1970. While Green's own albums can never be replaced, this is a solid portrait of one of the most influential jazz guitarists in history.
A boxed set can be the summation of a career, a historical survey, an unexpected find from the vaults, some bait for collectors and fans, a desperate trawl through past rejects, or, of course, all of the above. This year's crop of the larger boxed sets -- with a three-disc minimum -- includes a handful of big stars; many others have already been boxed in past years. Meanwhile, researchers are digging ever deeper into the archives of recorded music, giving a digital afterlife to sounds that might have vanished with the 20th century.
Below, the pop music and jazz critics of The New York Times consider a selection of boxed sets released this year. (Prices are suggested retail.) Other notable 2002 boxed sets that have been previously discussed in these pages include collections by the Band, XTC and Charlie Christian.
Of the guitarists who rerouted the instrument in jazz during the 1960's, Green was the earthiest and the most beholden to a small collection of favorite
licks played in lean, metallic single notes. On the first two discs of this well-selected set, he's making soul-jazz with some of the best organists (Baby Face Willette and John Patton) and saxophonists (Harold Vick, Lou Donaldson) associated with Blue Note at the time; for the set's second half he moves away from the blues and the organ-jazz sound, supported by the likes of Sonny Clark and Herbie Hancock. Green helped create a mainstream for the period -- rarely thrilling, always beautiful.
Personnel: Grant Green (guitar); George Braith (soprano saxophone, stritch, tenor saxophone); James Spaulding, Lou Donaldson (alto saxophone); Ike Quebec (tenor saxophone,
piano); Hank Mobley, Harold Vick, Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, Stanley Turrentine, Wayne Shorter, Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Johnny Coles, Lee Morgan , Tommy Turrentine, Blue Mitchell (trumpet); John "Johnny" Adriano Acea, Duke Pearson, Herbie Hancock, Horace Parlan, Winston Kelly, Kenny Drew, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Clark, Tommy Flanagan (
piano); Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith , Big John Patton, Larry Young, Baby Face Willette, Billy Gardner (organ); Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Dave Bailey , Donald Bailey , Elvin Jones, Hugh Walker, Al Harewood, Louis Hayes, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Willie Bobo, Ben Dixon, Billy Higgins , Otis Finch (drums); Richard Landrum, Carlos "Patato" Valdes (congas); Garvin Masseaux (tambourine).
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