Am I Blue? [Remaster]

Performer: Grant Green
Artist: Joe Henderson; John Patton; Johnny Coles
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Grant Green (guitar); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Johnny Coles (trumpet); John Patton (organ); Ben Dixon (drums). Producer: Alfred Lion. Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Originally issued on Blue Note (84139). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Bob Blumenthal. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is part of Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder Edition series. This quintet date by guitarist Grant Green was one of the last of his Blue Note albums to be reissued on CD, and it is somewhat clear why. The musicians (Green, trumpeter Johnny Coles, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, organist John Patton, and drummer Ben Dixon) play well enough, but there are few inspiring moments. The material is not all that exciting, and the laid-back feeling sometimes leads to dull moments. Most of the fire is provided by Henderson, but such songs as "Am I Blue," "I Wanna Be Loved," and a nearly 14-minute version of "For All We Know" are a bit sleepy. Although certainly listenable enough, this is one of Grant Green's lesser efforts from the 1960s. ~ Scott Yanow

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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