Review by Steve Huey
The second album of Grant Green's thorough jazz-funk makeover, Green Is
Beautiful finds the guitarist growing more comfortable with harder,
funkier R&B than he seemed on the softer-hued Carryin' On. The
switch from Fender Rhodes electric piano back to the more traditional
Hammond organ certainly helps give the session a little extra grit, but
it doesn't return Green to the land of soul-jazz by any means. Green Is
Beautiful is still explicitly commercial and accessible to non-jazz
audiences, and (purist objections notwithstanding) that's not
necessarily a bad thing. Green's take on James Brown's "Ain't It Funky
Now" is one of the funkiest items in his rare-groove period; it may be
chordally very simple, but the groove is tight and percolating, and
Green, tenor saxophonist Claude Bartee, and trumpeter Blue Mitchell all
come up with hot, exciting solos. The album also benefits from Green's
discovery of composer and occasional organist Earl Neal Creque, who
contributes two bright, slinky, horn-driven originals: "The Windjammer,"
which became one of the signature tunes of Green's late period, and
"Dracula." They help give the album a more original voice, and indicate
that Green was actively making himself at home in his new musical
environment, not just mixing dull originals with phoned-in covers of pop
and R&B hits (as he and many other '70s Blue Note artists were
accused of doing). Of course, there are still pop covers present -- the
Beatles' "A Day in the Life" is a mellow, mid-tempo groove, and
Bacharach's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" doesn't stray far from the
melody. Even if those aren't particularly distinctive, the remainder of
Green Is Beautiful proves that Green's reinvention as a jazz-funk artist
wasn't the misguided disaster it was initially made out to be.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/green-is-beautiful-mw0000623413
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Reseña de Steve Huey
El segundo álbum de Grant Green, Green Is Beautiful, es un profundo
cambio de imagen de jazz-funk, que encuentra al guitarrista cada vez más
cómodo con un R&B más duro y funky de lo que parecía en el más
suave Carryin' On. El cambio del piano eléctrico Fender Rhodes al órgano
Hammond más tradicional ayuda a dar a la sesión un poco más de garra,
pero no devuelve a Green a la tierra del soul-jazz de ninguna manera.
Green Is Beautiful sigue siendo explícitamente comercial y accesible
para el público no jazzístico, y (a pesar de las objeciones puristas)
eso no es necesariamente algo malo. La versión de Green de "Ain't It
Funky Now" de James Brown es uno de los temas más funky de su período de
rarezas; puede ser muy simple, pero el ritmo es apretado y penetrante, y
Green, el saxofonista tenor Claude Bartee, y el trompetista Blue
Mitchell, todos vienen con calientes y excitantes solos. El álbum
también se beneficia del descubrimiento de Green del compositor y
organista ocasional Earl Neal Creque, que contribuye con dos brillantes y
estilizados originales de trompeta: "The Windjammer", que se convirtió
en una de las melodías distintivas del último período de Green, y
"Drácula". Ayudan a dar al álbum una voz más original, e indican que
Green se sentía activamente a gusto en su nuevo entorno musical, no sólo
mezclando aburridos originales con portadas de éxitos pop y R&B
(como se le acusó a él y a muchos otros artistas de Blue Note de los
70). Por supuesto, todavía hay covers pop presentes - "A Day in the
Life" de los Beatles es una melodía suave y de ritmo medio, y "I'll
Never Fall in Love Again" de Bacharach no se aleja mucho de la melodía.
Incluso si no son particularmente distintivas, el resto de "Green Is
Beautiful" prueba que la reinvención de Green como artista de jazz-funk
no fue el desastre equivocado que inicialmente se pensaba.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/green-is-beautiful-mw0000623413
Tracks list:
A1 Ain't It Funky Now
Written-By – J. Brown
A2 A Day In The Life
Written-By – J. Lennon - P. McCartney
B1 The Windjammer
Written-By – E. N. Creque
B2 I'll Never Fall In Love Again
Written-By – B. Bacharach - H. David
B3 Dracula
Written-By – E. N. Creque
credits:
Grant Green - guitar
Blue Mitchell - trumpet
Claude Bartee - tenor saxophone
Neal Creque (track 3),
Emmanuel Riggins (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5) - organ
Jimmy Lewis - electric bass
Idris Muhammad - drums
Candido Camero - conga
Richie "Pablo" Landrum - bongos
recorded at:
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs,
NJ, January 30, 1970
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