Born To Be Blue

Performer: Grant Green
Artist: Ike Quebec; Sonny Clark; Sam Jones; Louis Hayes
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Grant Green (guitar); Ike Quebec (tenor saxophone); Sonny Clark (piano); Sam Jones (bass); Louis Hayes (drums). Producer: Alfred Lion. Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on December 11, 1961 and March 1, 1962. Includes liner notes by Richard Seidel. If there is one thing Grant Green's sound always conveys, it's the blues. On BORN TO BE BLUE Green joins the legendary rhythm players Sonny Clark, Sam Jones, and Louis Hayes and the always-spectacular tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec. The date features mostly standards on which Green, Quebec, and Clark delight in tearing up the familiar changes. Quebec particularly shines as he takes as much spotlight as the leader with expertly swinging solos and smoky ballad leads. Green, of course, is in top form, nimbly dancing around his six-string like a featherweight fighter tempting his opponent. Standout tracks include the opening reading of "Someday My Prince Will Come," the unforgettable title tune that features Quebec in one of his most emotive performances, Al Jolson's snappy "Back In Your Own Backyard," and "Cool Blues," one of the few Charlie Parker tunes Green ever recorded.

St. Louis-born guitarist Grant Green was a giant of what came to be known as soul-jazz. His singular style incorporated the influences of Gospel, blues, and R&B, and defined a unique post-bop language for electric guitar. His classic early-1960s Blue Note recordings are high-water marks of both the soul-jazz sound and of jazz guitar in general. Drug abuse sadly hampered his later career; he died in 1979, but his son, the jazz guitarist Grant Green, Jr., continues his legacy.

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