Grant is the man, my personal favourite along with Kenny and Wes ! Grant played everything from bebop to to blues to funk... a player with feel and groove !
I'm a predominantly Rock guitar guy but have had a 1/4 century obsession with GG. Easily one of the more under rated guitarists of any genre. Listening to him and Jerry Garcia taught me the importance of chord tones. Love how you highlight the wide interval jumps and those trills that break up things and make them more interesting. His funk albums from the late 1960's are straight N A S T Y. GG has developed a bit of a following in the underground Hip Hop community amongst the crate diggers. Love your channel. Keep it up.
Hell yeah. Grant Green is "my guy". I've been listening to his albums in the car like every day for the past month. Love his playing. Love his tone. Love P90s. Love the funky stuff.
LOL Jens-It seems like some guitar player friends of mine either hate his tone or love it! As a sax player, I love it. But what he is putting down is for real!
not long after I started learning Jazz Guitar, I was over in San Francisco, walking down Grant street, then came to the corner of Grant and Green. The Street sign is the cover of his Street of Dreams album. I went over to Amoeba in the Haight and bought that record. Simple yet melodic and this is what I wanted to play. So I bought more Grant Green albums. Idle Moments is amazing - learning to play Jean De Fluer - lots of TH-cams on the solo, but none on the whole front end melody. having to learn to sight read to learn that - Then I saw Kurt Rosenwinkel over in Berkeley - most amazing concert I ever saw - Learning Grant Green is key - all from a street sign in North Beach San Francisco - Now I'm going back to Grant's early period to learn that before going back to Jean De Fluer - gotta get the prerequesites down
Grant Green was the first jazz guitarist who really inspired me to further my knowledge in jazz phrasing and technique in general; his rendition of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” still remains one of my all time favorite jazz guitar tracks
At 6:33 - 'No Scales, just TRIADS and ENCLOSURES.' This knowledge is 'The Holy Grail' to me ! I should say 'ANOTHER Holy Grail' to me. How many Holy Grails do you have ? I wish I learnt this years ago. Thanks Jens. ☯
I love Grant's sound, too. To me, there's something more "3D" about it than a lot of jazz guitarists' tones. It sounds as real and as present as horns or piano would.
I recall coming across Grant Green by pure happenstance in a CD in the mid 90s. I had been through a Jazz program for a few years not too long before this, and *no* *one* had *EVER* mentioned his name to me, not once. Same again for two private teachers who were both monster jazz players. The guy who owned the CD store in question had a deep knowledge of jazz, orchestral, avant garde, experiemental music, and music in general. So he stocked music by important artists that are over looked. My first GG CD was the one with all the gospel/religious tunes. It was/is a great introduction. I collected most of his CDs after that. I never got into his funky material, but I recommend Grant Green and Kenny Burrell to *all* guitar players and jazz fans.
I'm starting to learn Jazz guitar with your books and videos, Jens. I heard Grant Green's Cease the Bombing on the radio today and thought this very thing: that I could take inspiration from it and learn his solo on my own. Then two hours later I land on your video about him! What synchronicity!
Grant Green has always been my favorite. His biography is good. There’s a section where one guitarist-I can’t remember who, but I think it was George Benson-saying at the jam sessions any time Green was playing the only way to beat him would be to try and get him to play really fast, but if you didn’t play fast, he beat you every time with his soul and killer lines. His use of syncopation is really cool and underrated by guitarists. It’s great to see the Grant Green love!
This is great! Grant Green's style is so accessible and yet also so pure at the same time. A couple of great solos to check out are "It Ain't Necessarily So" from The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark and his solo on "Latona" from Big John Patton's album Let 'Em Roll.
Wow. I'm usually frustrated with anything on TH-cam analyzing music. It's either just stupid simple, reads wayyyy too much into it to pad the view time, or it misses the point entirely. I'm so happy I stumbled into this channel-great stuff!
Grant is one of the smoothest and melodic guitar players I’ve heard, and I’ve listened to everything from Rock, Metal, Blues, Jazz fusion, pop, world music etc. Super underrated
I first heard about him in an old Guitar World write up called "A Rocker's Guide to Jazz Guitar" or something similar, and got myself a copy of His Majesty King Funk that was recommended there. I liked his tone there, and his melodic sensibilities and phrasing. While supposedly simple, it is certainly not mediocre (or less). Later I got a copy of Matador that was recommended elsewhere, not as fun as His Majesty..., but grows on me. Thanks for the explaining about his periods, I feel it'll help me navigate better through his music (I paused the video after less than 90 seconds, and already found useful information, kudos).
I remember many years ago I was invited up to play on stage 😮 I was sweating 😓 because I had no idea what we were about to play. I dont recall the song. I got a solo to which in my head at least, I fumbled through. 😢 However when I got off stage people came up to say I had a real jazz sound 🤷🏾♂️ One guy said with absolute delight, I sounded like Grant Green. 👍🏾 This was a surprise to me because, very shame to say now, I hadn't listened to his music up until that point. 😳 Now,,,,, whilst I still don't see the similarities, I do very much like his playing. I love Jazz Guitar, just wished I was even a 10th of these greats 👍🏾 Thanks Jens 👍🏾 😊
I hadn’t heard of Grant Green until about a year or two ago, and I am so glad I found him. Love his recordings and it’s amazing to hear how varied his style is over the years yet it’s still very much him.
Hey I transcribed this song! It really helped me understand phrasing and a lot of language The good thing is that it has a lot of similarities from chorus to chorus so it helps I still use a lot of the stuff ❤
I love Grant Green’s playing, Idle Moments was the first of his solo I learned. Nothing like jumping into the deep end of the swimming pool. Love your channel, very informative.
I like Grant’s tone. It just sound clean and articulate to me. One of my favorite guitarists is Pat Martino. I once made the mistake, on a very large forum, of commenting that I didn’t really like is tone. I should have kept my mouth shut. 😂 Grant’s version of Round Midnight is my favorite.
My -interest in- love of Grant Green stems directly from Jens, thank you for not neglecting this (easily overlooked) reference player. I transcribed Cool Blues and it was such a beneficial experience.
During his Blue Note years, Grant started out with a 1960 Gibson ES-330, not the traditional ES-175 jazz box as used by Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, etc. But his tone is immediately recognizable! One of his best straight ahead jazz sessions was with Sonny Clark: The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark (1961-62). Like George Benson, his early playing involved organ trios with Jack McDuff. My favorite from that period is Grantstand, organ trio plus Yusef Lateef.
Hi Jens, as a jazz beginner, I had an Es330 TD (fr. 70's). At the beginning I was super excited having a Gibson but the fact is I had often problem adjusting the sound I liked. Finally I sold it. So, your intuition seems too me fairly accurate. At least I discovered Grand Green,. After having read somewhere he was using the same guitar as I did., I looked for his CD'q. But the truth is, it was not exactly the sound I was expecting (too much treble, I think to remember). Thanks for your GG's biographe. It gives back this artist all his value.
Great video Jens! Love Grant Green and you're right - that "Solid" recording is great - Henderson is amazing on that one. Anybody beginning their jazz journey absolutely must check out GG, for all the reasons you stated in the video. His lines are easy to hear, the context is often a blues or a well known standard. Thanks so much for your hard work!
When I was 20 I went to the local record store that I always went to get the latest metal/rock album. When I walked in I heard this super cool music I knew nothing about. I asked him if I could get it. He sent me home with The Best Of Grant Green. That was my introduction to jazz. He is awesome!
I've just gotta say, Jens you're an incredible teacher. I watch your videos while working and had a passing knowledge of SOME musical theory, but the way you outline and explain concepts helps them to click almost immediately. Actually just bought my first "jazz" guitar (Gretsch G2622) and look forward to playing along with your videos!
I love Grant Green. He might have the most recognizable tone of anyone. “Green Street” is my favorite album of his. Also a prolific sideman for Blue Note in the first half of the 60s. I love him on Big John Patton’s “Got a Good Thing Goin'” and Ike Quebec’s “Blue & Sentimental.”
So glad you're showcasing Grant Green. I love his tone. He manages to emphasize the highs and maybe the mids just a bit and really cut through without it being brittle. He gets a lot out of a P90. It's still a pure Gibson single-coil tone. I don't know how different it is from early Jim Hall P90 tone. Thanks for analyzing all those licks. I'm very familiar with all of those albums (I have about 10 GG CDs from the days when CDs were still a thing -- so many classics there).
Thanks! I actually think that Jim Hall sounds very different from this, I have a video on his playing in the 50s coming up then you can judge for yourself :)
Thank you for this! I stumbled into Grant Green by myself but when I mentioned it my teacher told me to check out (and transcribe) the head of Blues in Maude's Flat. Great, great phrases even if just pentatonic.
GG's solos are more a theory lesson than a song you could go away humming, which was always the case once jazz musicians started playing for each other as much as for the general public. But that served its purpose, too.
I also didn't give him proper respect. I heard one or two solos that weren't his best, and that was it. Years later, I examined more of his work, and whoa, he's great and unique.
It must be Grant's later tone that really floors me...his hard driving style with heavy chord tone use and solid forward motion in his solos paired with slight distortion...groovy is really the only word to use to describe.
Your comments on Grant's tone had me thinking. I wouldn't want to emulate his tone or pick attack in my own playing, but I love listening to it on his albums. Its funny how that works. I wonder if Scofield fans feel similarly.
I’ve often heard people criticize Green for two reasons: 1) for only playing single notes. 2) for sometimes repeating himself in solos. While I can see both of these observations are legit, I’ve never been able to decide whether they mean he was limited, or any less of a guitar player. He clearly had it going on. In fact, when I’m asked to take the melody on a tune I don’t know very well and the best I can do is play it in single notes I tell myself hey it’s okay, Grant Green did it this way! Your analysis of these lines in his solos only adds to his legitimacy in my book. I can’t wait to work these out and add them to my playing. Thanks, Jens.
Interesting observation. I hadn’t really thought about that before, that he’s not so big into chords. But listening it’s quite striking. I think he went on to use a bit more chords on later funky material, at least some very catchy double stops.
Its funny because a lot of people online trash him for not being hip enough or playing the same licks all the time. He's the king, imo. Almost nobody does it better
Thanx Jen’s as always your analys are clear indispensable,important and so cool to understand the game off all this different guitarists have good time bro and thanx again.. keep the Groove 🎼🎶🎵🎸🔥🔥🔥🔥🙏🏽
I remember hearing Mambo Inn 30 odd years ago. What a great track for beginners to learn 2 5 1s. Great choice, I like his percussive sound too. Thanks for the upload
In a word, 'accessible'. I've had many friends, even a TV sat tech comment on hearing it how great it sounds, "the kind of music I really like", when I've had Green Street on. So, a folk/rock singer/guitarist of many years, I ponied up and got an Epi Broadway reissue, had an excellent luthier setup with Thomastiks, a TOM bridge and a harp tailpiece, and now I'm getting used to Moonlight In Vermont and several other standard progs. I can play 3 CAGED postition triad scales, triplets, etc at 120 bpm, I can play all CAGED at 180+bpm, and I'm wondering WHAT TO DO NEXT! It seems MIND BOGGLING. A lot easier to listen than to play or improv! But your videos, although deep, are shedding light. Thx.
Thank you for the introduction to Grant Green! I love the arpeggio at 2:30 in Idle Moments. Henderson's first solo in that song was fantastic! He got me hooked looking for the next note and boom it wasn't there. I laughed out loud.
Great lines and analysis. Might be worth mentioning that the first line of the first example plays off the idea of the Ab melodic minor (the altered V of the Cmajor) which is a great "trick" to use playing off the V of a static major chord. Just how i think of it. Others may view it differently
Indeed. Prob one of the first jazz guitarist besides Joe Pass I would listen to even before I started actively playing jazz. Have always loved his playing!
I can't read notes and my knowledge of (jazz) chords is minimal. I play by ear and I try to copy what I hear with my eyes shut. Probably that's why Grant is a great inspiration for me. I wonder if Grant could read notes himself, especially when you say he makes the same "mistake" as Sonny Rollins does in a solo. Thanks for posting.
Grant did a lot of sideman stuff, so there is a fair chance he could read. As for the "mistake" it is not really a mistake they just play the melody wrong, but also that is a choice.
Great stuff. One caveat: I had an old-school teacher that played with a similar swing to Grant Green, that is, that snappy, almost-dotted-eighth-sixteenth kind of swing. Another later teacher had to straighten me out a bit into more of the modern straighter-eighths-a-bit-behind-the-beat sort of swing. Green's lines are totally on-point, however.
Grant is truly an anomaly among my favourite guitarists in being an entirely single-note line-focused player. Even Charlie Christian, who famously started the horn style of jazz guitar, employed chords here and there in his solos. I well remember that "Lullaby of the Leaves," from _Grant's First Stand_ , was the first Green side I heard -- I wasn't even yet into jazz at that time, but his playing mesmerized me. It seems that his instincts regarding phrasing, space and note choices were flawless -- and he always swung. Great discussion, Jens -- as always, you cover the most important points.
Listening to his entire discography because of your video 😊 Being a George Benson fan for years it's amazing to hear how he's been influenced by Grant Green.
Just getting more into jazz after playing for almost forty years. Despising the style and tone of most jazz guitarists, benson and grant green had killer tone because they didn’t go for that, in my opinion, overly mellow dead jazz guitar tone. It’s almost too cliche. But the truly unique influential guys like green and benson had a more “accesible” tone. I like the airiness of his tone vs the lack of air in some jazz guitar tones. Just my opinion. Love that I found Jen’s TH-cam and website.
Excellent tutorial from Jens.......👍.....IMO Grant Green occupies a unique place in the pantheon of jazz guitar and makes superb 'learning' material. Personally I love all the various tones from different jazz guitarists.....John Scofield playing an effected 335 -esque Ibanez or a Fender Tele, Joe Pass playing a Fender Jaguar, Pat Metheny playing a synth. solid body, John McLaughlin playing a nylon stringer with a Hammond B3 synth patch.....!!......Keeps things interesting.......👍
@@Bejaardenbus here it is. th-cam.com/video/_4jMQNJFPO4/w-d-xo.html we all have our favorite guitar tests, but to me, Green is so much stronger and clearer with his lines. It’s like he intends every single notes while often others play a flurry of notes without solid intention behind each one. No one will change anyone else’s mind on the internet, but that’s my opinion. Of course, I also love Green’s tone which some here don’t like.
@@JoelLaviolette just enjoy it man. The whole " this guy is better " thing sometimes just wears thin.I've seen that vid many timesI love Grant Green, l love Burrell. They are both carving it up and doing fantastic. Sometimes the male thing is just battling out who the best gladiator is. They are all fantastic.cheers
Grant Green has been my fave for a long time, and I love his tone, he was quoted as saying he doesn't play a lot of chords because he doesn't like to hear a lot of chord clusters, i.e. keep it clean and simple. Check out his solo on "Hurt So Bad".
As a violinist that has no idea why this video was in my feed, I somehow ended up watching the whole thing 😂 I though classical musicians were hardcore about tone, but this jazz tone stuff seems to be extremely competitive
I discovered Grant green about three years ago. He's got a great style. Idle Moments has a lot of great guitar parts. I recently discovered another one. Very underrated. His name is Ray Crawford, and he was part of the Ahmad Jamal trio on the first albums. This goes back to 1955 and he gets some really great electric guitar sounds, including his signature bongo trick. If you have not heard Ray Crawford, you need to. He was miles ahead.
I studied one of his solos when I was at the conservatory (thanks teacher!), and he played the I in a blues with a maj7. It didn't sound off at all! Melody is queen! The tone however... 😅
Grant Green initiated my interest in jazz guitar. But Solid is harder to access for me than all his other records. Please do a lesson on it to open it up and explain the differences to his earlier work. What comes from the modal and hard bob and did he add personal stuff to the genres? And then the third lesson about maybe Upshot, that I find is one of the most inspired from his third phase, and is his own composition. Thank you Jens, for your work. You are the most inspiring and deep digging jazz teacher!
Yes…..Thanks Jens-it’s been a while since I commented, but doesn’t mean I’ve been missing your vids by any means. Several years ago I asked you to post some grant green stuff and this is exactly why; thanks for articulating this in a way I never could and sharing your insights to some of grant’s basic concepts, so very excellent good sir!
Be creative. I love traditional big band stuff. I also love the 1990's "Seattle Sound", which was the first thing I learned. Stick a Big Muff or a DS-1 in your signal chain. Play!!! Have fun!!! I'm not a jazz guitarist, but I've been playing since '93 when I learned STP's "Plush" from tabs in Guitar World magazine. (whispers: MAKE IT YOUR OWN!!!) (right?!) ✌💗🤘 P.S. I'm always excited for Jens' videos because I've only started learning. I also apologize if I sound crude, but I started drinking the second I got home from a hell night in a kitchen. Maybe I'll eat my stupid ego and go back to school by the time I'm 50 lol
I hear you. I've complained about Jeff Beck's tone for years. But let's listen to GG. I've never heard of an enclosure. It's a theory concept, no doubt. Bringing a phrase home, or something. You Northern Europeans are good engineers. Mainly, I get inspired to listen to the source you're referencing. Thanks, Larsen.
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“Idle Moments” as a composition and record was very special!
Always loved Grant's playing. Idle Moments is my favorite and, btw, I love his tone on that. lol
Yes, those later albums have a great guitar tone 🙂
Grant got me into jazz guitar and is my main cat man. And it’s coming out on my birthday. Insane
Amazing! Hope you have a great birthday! 🙂
Grant is the man, my personal favourite along with Kenny and Wes ! Grant played everything from bebop to to blues to funk... a player with feel and groove !
I'm a predominantly Rock guitar guy but have had a 1/4 century obsession with GG. Easily one of the more under rated guitarists of any genre. Listening to him and Jerry Garcia taught me the importance of chord tones. Love how you highlight the wide interval jumps and those trills that break up things and make them more interesting. His funk albums from the late 1960's are straight N A S T Y. GG has developed a bit of a following in the underground Hip Hop community amongst the crate diggers. Love your channel. Keep it up.
Absolutely
Hell yeah. Grant Green is "my guy". I've been listening to his albums in the car like every day for the past month. Love his playing. Love his tone. Love P90s. Love the funky stuff.
LOL Jens-It seems like some guitar player friends of mine either hate his tone or love it! As a sax player, I love it. But what he is putting down is for real!
not long after I started learning Jazz Guitar, I was over in San Francisco, walking down Grant street, then came to the corner of Grant and Green. The Street sign is the cover of his Street of Dreams album. I went over to Amoeba in the Haight and bought that record. Simple yet melodic and this is what I wanted to play. So I bought more Grant Green albums. Idle Moments is amazing - learning to play Jean De Fluer - lots of TH-cams on the solo, but none on the whole front end melody. having to learn to sight read to learn that - Then I saw Kurt Rosenwinkel over in Berkeley - most amazing concert I ever saw - Learning Grant Green is key - all from a street sign in North Beach San Francisco - Now I'm going back to Grant's early period to learn that before going back to Jean De Fluer - gotta get the prerequesites down
Grant Green was the first jazz guitarist who really inspired me to further my knowledge in jazz phrasing and technique in general; his rendition of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” still remains one of my all time favorite jazz guitar tracks
At 6:33 - 'No Scales, just TRIADS and ENCLOSURES.' This knowledge is 'The Holy Grail' to me ! I should say 'ANOTHER Holy Grail' to me. How many Holy Grails do you have ? I wish I learnt this years ago. Thanks Jens. ☯
Love Grant Green! I love his tone too…very unique.
I love Grant's sound, too. To me, there's something more "3D" about it than a lot of jazz guitarists' tones. It sounds as real and as present as horns or piano would.
Well Jens loves Scofield’s “chorus” tone which I think is horrible so his taste is dubious.
I have his entire collection on vinyl ❤️❤️❤️ amazing player
Idle Moments is one of my favorite albums ever. Idk why it’s so hard to find jazz guitarists teaching green like you did here. Thanks for sharing!
I got so obsessed with Grant Green I bought a 330. Awesome guitar and love his tone as well as his musicality.
I recall coming across Grant Green by pure happenstance in a CD in the mid 90s. I had been through a Jazz program for a few years not too long before this, and *no* *one* had *EVER* mentioned his name to me, not once. Same again for two private teachers who were both monster jazz players. The guy who owned the CD store in question had a deep knowledge of jazz, orchestral, avant garde, experiemental music, and music in general. So he stocked music by important artists that are over looked. My first GG CD was the one with all the gospel/religious tunes. It was/is a great introduction. I collected most of his CDs after that. I never got into his funky material, but I recommend Grant Green and Kenny Burrell to *all* guitar players and jazz fans.
I'm starting to learn Jazz guitar with your books and videos, Jens. I heard Grant Green's Cease the Bombing on the radio today and thought this very thing: that I could take inspiration from it and learn his solo on my own. Then two hours later I land on your video about him! What synchronicity!
Great! Go for it 🙂
Jens, I’m a jazz drummer and I love your content
Thank you Jack! That is really great to hear!
Prolly my favorite guitarist of any genre. Analyzing his music re-taught me how to play guitar as a whole
Grant Green has always been my favorite. His biography is good. There’s a section where one guitarist-I can’t remember who, but I think it was George Benson-saying at the jam sessions any time Green was playing the only way to beat him would be to try and get him to play really fast, but if you didn’t play fast, he beat you every time with his soul and killer lines. His use of syncopation is really cool and underrated by guitarists. It’s great to see the Grant Green love!
Sookie sookie drew me in. Live at club Mozambique, and many other albums cemented his greatness for me.
Johnny Smith was a great jazz guitarist. Charlie parker was a big fan of his and sat at his performances at bird land during the bebop era.
His On Green Dolphin Street was the first transcription I was told to do in college.
This is great! Grant Green's style is so accessible and yet also so pure at the same time. A couple of great solos to check out are "It Ain't Necessarily So" from The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark and his solo on "Latona" from Big John Patton's album Let 'Em Roll.
Great Jens! I love Grant Greene's tone. It's like a bell.
Jens your channel has become invaluable to me. Thank you, thank you for all of the great useful stuff!
Awesome! Thank you!
Wow. I'm usually frustrated with anything on TH-cam analyzing music. It's either just stupid simple, reads wayyyy too much into it to pad the view time, or it misses the point entirely. I'm so happy I stumbled into this channel-great stuff!
Glad you liked it!
Grant is one of the smoothest and melodic guitar players I’ve heard, and I’ve listened to everything from Rock, Metal, Blues, Jazz fusion, pop, world music etc. Super underrated
I first heard about him in an old Guitar World write up called "A Rocker's Guide to Jazz Guitar" or something similar, and got myself a copy of His Majesty King Funk that was recommended there. I liked his tone there, and his melodic sensibilities and phrasing. While supposedly simple, it is certainly not mediocre (or less).
Later I got a copy of Matador that was recommended elsewhere, not as fun as His Majesty..., but grows on me.
Thanks for the explaining about his periods, I feel it'll help me navigate better through his music (I paused the video after less than 90 seconds, and already found useful information, kudos).
I've transcribed many of his solos, including this one. Every time I go back to one of them, I learn a bit more.
I remember many years ago I was invited up to play on stage 😮 I was sweating 😓 because I had no idea what we were about to play. I dont recall the song. I got a solo to which in my head at least, I fumbled through. 😢
However when I got off stage people came up to say I had a real jazz sound 🤷🏾♂️ One guy said with absolute delight, I sounded like Grant Green. 👍🏾 This was a surprise to me because, very shame to say now, I hadn't listened to his music up until that point. 😳 Now,,,,, whilst I still don't see the similarities, I do very much like his playing. I love Jazz Guitar, just wished I was even a 10th of these greats 👍🏾 Thanks Jens 👍🏾 😊
Great story! 🙂
I love Grant Green too! His tone and phrasing just connects with me ... and lots of others lol. Idle Moments is one of my favorite songs.
Same here! Guys like Wes and Django make me want to give up guitar. Grant Green makes we want to PLAY.
@@lordofthemound3890 Agreed! Good point.
I hadn’t heard of Grant Green until about a year or two ago, and I am so glad I found him. Love his recordings and it’s amazing to hear how varied his style is over the years yet it’s still very much him.
Hey I transcribed this song!
It really helped me understand phrasing and a lot of language
The good thing is that it has a lot of similarities from chorus to chorus so it helps
I still use a lot of the stuff ❤
Great!
I love Grant Green’s playing, Idle Moments was the first of his solo I learned. Nothing like jumping into the deep end of the swimming pool. Love your channel, very informative.
I like Grant’s tone. It just sound clean and articulate to me. One of my favorite guitarists is Pat Martino. I once made the mistake, on a very large forum, of commenting that I didn’t really like is tone. I should have kept my mouth shut. 😂
Grant’s version of Round Midnight is my favorite.
My -interest in- love of Grant Green stems directly from Jens, thank you for not neglecting this (easily overlooked) reference player. I transcribed Cool Blues and it was such a beneficial experience.
Glad it was helpful!
During his Blue Note years,
Grant started out with a 1960 Gibson ES-330, not the traditional ES-175 jazz box as used by Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, etc. But his tone is immediately recognizable! One of his best straight ahead jazz sessions was with Sonny Clark: The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark (1961-62). Like George Benson, his early playing involved organ trios with Jack McDuff. My favorite from that period is Grantstand, organ trio plus Yusef Lateef.
Hi Jens, as a jazz beginner, I had an Es330 TD (fr. 70's). At the beginning I was super excited having a Gibson but the fact is I had often problem adjusting the sound I liked. Finally I sold it. So, your intuition seems too me fairly accurate. At least I discovered Grand Green,. After having read somewhere he was using the same guitar as I did., I looked for his CD'q. But the truth is, it was not exactly the sound I was expecting (too much treble, I think to remember). Thanks for your GG's biographe. It gives back this artist all his value.
Extraordinary and under-rated player. Thanks for for prompting me to listen to him more.
Go for it 😁👍
Great video Jens!
Love Grant Green and you're right - that "Solid" recording is great - Henderson is amazing on that one.
Anybody beginning their jazz journey absolutely must check out GG, for all the reasons you stated in the video. His lines are easy to hear, the context is often a blues or a well known standard.
Thanks so much for your hard work!
Glad you like it 🙂 Yes, he is indeed very accessible.
Killing it with the humor, Jens, but thanks for giving some of us a place to start!
Thank you! :)
When I was 20 I went to the local record store that I always went to get the latest metal/rock album. When I walked in I heard this super cool music I knew nothing about. I asked him if I could get it. He sent me home with The Best Of Grant Green. That was my introduction to jazz. He is awesome!
I've just gotta say, Jens you're an incredible teacher. I watch your videos while working and had a passing knowledge of SOME musical theory, but the way you outline and explain concepts helps them to click almost immediately. Actually just bought my first "jazz" guitar (Gretsch G2622) and look forward to playing along with your videos!
Great to hear!
Going from straight blues to jazz a few years back, transcribing grant green solos really helped everything click!
Same for me! I learned about 6-8 of his blues solos. It helps that he only plays blues in B flat.
@@evanduquette yes! Hahah, he is the king of Bb
I love Grant Green. He might have the most recognizable tone of anyone. “Green Street” is my favorite album of his. Also a prolific sideman for Blue Note in the first half of the 60s. I love him on Big John Patton’s “Got a Good Thing Goin'” and Ike Quebec’s “Blue & Sentimental.”
So glad you're showcasing Grant Green. I love his tone. He manages to emphasize the highs and maybe the mids just a bit and really cut through without it being brittle. He gets a lot out of a P90. It's still a pure Gibson single-coil tone. I don't know how different it is from early Jim Hall P90 tone. Thanks for analyzing all those licks. I'm very familiar with all of those albums (I have about 10 GG CDs from the days when CDs were still a thing -- so many classics there).
Thanks! I actually think that Jim Hall sounds very different from this, I have a video on his playing in the 50s coming up then you can judge for yourself :)
@@JensLarsen I think you're right. I really love the Jim Hall sound on his records with Jimmy Giuffre,
I've been listening to Green Street and Idle Moments daily lately. Such a great player.
Thank you for this! I stumbled into Grant Green by myself but when I mentioned it my teacher told me to check out (and transcribe) the head of Blues in Maude's Flat. Great, great phrases even if just pentatonic.
GG's solos are more a theory lesson than a song you could go away humming, which was always the case once jazz musicians started playing for each other as much as for the general public. But that served its purpose, too.
Finding Grant Green and learning some of his "stuff" was a major turning point for me as a player...
I also didn't give him proper respect. I heard one or two solos that weren't his best, and that was it. Years later, I examined more of his work, and whoa, he's great and unique.
GG mentioned in an interview that Jimmy Raney was one of his biggest influences.
That's interesting! Do you have a link to that?
@@JensLarsen Liner noted to one of hid LPs
It must be Grant's later tone that really floors me...his hard driving style with heavy chord tone use and solid forward motion in his solos paired with slight distortion...groovy is really the only word to use to describe.
Your comments on Grant's tone had me thinking. I wouldn't want to emulate his tone or pick attack in my own playing, but I love listening to it on his albums. Its funny how that works. I wonder if Scofield fans feel similarly.
St Louis man, we also had Chuck Berry and Miles Davis and TS Eliot
Great teaching, Jens! 👍 Love the simple but effective IIm7b5-V alt. pick-up line. 🎸
I’ve often heard people criticize Green for two reasons:
1) for only playing single notes.
2) for sometimes repeating himself in solos.
While I can see both of these observations are legit, I’ve never been able to decide whether they mean he was limited, or any less of a guitar player. He clearly had it going on. In fact, when I’m asked to take the melody on a tune I don’t know very well and the best I can do is play it in single notes I tell myself hey it’s okay, Grant Green did it this way!
Your analysis of these lines in his solos only adds to his legitimacy in my book. I can’t wait to work these out and add them to my playing. Thanks, Jens.
Interesting observation. I hadn’t really thought about that before, that he’s not so big into chords. But listening it’s quite striking. I think he went on to use a bit more chords on later funky material, at least some very catchy double stops.
Its funny because a lot of people online trash him for not being hip enough or playing the same licks all the time. He's the king, imo. Almost nobody does it better
Thanx Jen’s as always your analys are clear indispensable,important and so cool to understand the game off all this different guitarists have good time bro and thanx again.. keep the Groove 🎼🎶🎵🎸🔥🔥🔥🔥🙏🏽
I remember hearing Mambo Inn 30 odd years ago. What a great track for beginners to learn 2 5 1s.
Great choice, I like his percussive sound too. Thanks for the upload
In a word, 'accessible'. I've had many friends, even a TV sat tech comment on hearing it how great it sounds, "the kind of music I really like", when I've had Green Street on. So, a folk/rock singer/guitarist of many years, I ponied up and got an Epi Broadway reissue, had an excellent luthier setup with Thomastiks, a TOM bridge and a harp tailpiece, and now I'm getting used to Moonlight In Vermont and several other standard progs. I can play 3 CAGED postition triad scales, triplets, etc at 120 bpm, I can play all CAGED at 180+bpm, and I'm wondering WHAT TO DO NEXT! It seems MIND BOGGLING. A lot easier to listen than to play or improv! But your videos, although deep, are shedding light. Thx.
I have an album of him playing gospel music that’s really good! I’ll have to check out his other stuff.
Thank you for the introduction to Grant Green! I love the arpeggio at 2:30 in Idle Moments. Henderson's first solo in that song was fantastic! He got me hooked looking for the next note and boom it wasn't there. I laughed out loud.
Great lines and analysis. Might be worth mentioning that the first line of the first example plays off the idea of the Ab melodic minor (the altered V of the Cmajor) which is a great "trick" to use playing off the V of a static major chord. Just how i think of it. Others may view it differently
I think you might want to revisit that analysis, there is no D or C in Ab melodic minor 🙂
Such a chill vibe on that solo...I'll have to try to learn it by ear and compare it to yours.
You should also check out his record with Sonny Clark,
there is a blues solo on it that is a classic.
The complete quartets with Sonny Clark
Indeed. Prob one of the first jazz guitarist besides Joe Pass I would listen to even before I started actively playing jazz. Have always loved his playing!
I can't read notes and my knowledge of (jazz) chords is minimal. I play by ear and I try to copy what I hear with my eyes shut. Probably that's why Grant is a great inspiration for me. I wonder if Grant could read notes himself, especially when you say he makes the same "mistake" as Sonny Rollins does in a solo. Thanks for posting.
Grant did a lot of sideman stuff, so there is a fair chance he could read. As for the "mistake" it is not really a mistake they just play the melody wrong, but also that is a choice.
Great stuff. One caveat: I had an old-school teacher that played with a similar swing to Grant Green, that is, that snappy, almost-dotted-eighth-sixteenth kind of swing. Another later teacher had to straighten me out a bit into more of the modern straighter-eighths-a-bit-behind-the-beat sort of swing. Green's lines are totally on-point, however.
Yes, that is true, but you won't find as much clear beginner friendly material with anyone who has a more modern sound in my experience.
Grant is truly an anomaly among my favourite guitarists in being an entirely single-note line-focused player. Even Charlie Christian, who famously started the horn style of jazz guitar, employed chords here and there in his solos. I well remember that "Lullaby of the Leaves," from _Grant's First Stand_ , was the first Green side I heard -- I wasn't even yet into jazz at that time, but his playing mesmerized me. It seems that his instincts regarding phrasing, space and note choices were flawless -- and he always swung. Great discussion, Jens -- as always, you cover the most important points.
Sonny Greenwich, who is also fantastic, rarely played chords.
The albums he did with Larry Young and Elvin Jones are my favourite Green.
They are indeed great!
Great video - Love Grant Green! I dig his tasty phrases without using speed as a crutch.
Glad you liked it!
Listening to his entire discography because of your video 😊 Being a George Benson fan for years it's amazing to hear how he's been influenced by Grant Green.
1:37 Yes, I heard that mistakes too. Jazz is like life. Mistakes are part of it and make it human again!
Grant Green: one of my favourite Jazz guitarists with Johnny Smith and Wes!
Just getting more into jazz after playing for almost forty years. Despising the style and tone of most jazz guitarists, benson and grant green had killer tone because they didn’t go for that, in my opinion, overly mellow dead jazz guitar tone. It’s almost too cliche. But the truly unique influential guys like green and benson had a more “accesible” tone. I like the airiness of his tone vs the lack of air in some jazz guitar tones. Just my opinion. Love that I found Jen’s TH-cam and website.
Excellent tutorial from Jens.......👍.....IMO Grant Green occupies a unique place in the pantheon of jazz guitar and makes superb 'learning' material. Personally I love all the various tones from different jazz guitarists.....John Scofield playing an effected 335 -esque Ibanez or a Fender Tele, Joe Pass playing a Fender Jaguar, Pat Metheny playing a synth. solid body, John McLaughlin playing a nylon stringer with a Hammond B3 synth patch.....!!......Keeps things interesting.......👍
Cool, thanks!
I have to admit I was more of a Wes fanatic and didn't think much of Grant but later realized how great his playing was too.
Grant is pretty amazing and in many ways a shortcut to Bebop on guitar 🙂
I love grant Green. his solo on "the other part of town" with Harold Parlan is something else.
Your videos have gotten amazing over the years
Love Grant Green. Unfortunately there are very few video live recordings of him playing.
Have you seen the one on TH-cam with him, Kenny Burrell, and Barney Kessel? He blows both the other two out of the water every time!
@@JoelLaviolette Yeah... I really doubt that. I love Green, but the other two are at least equally phenomenal.
@@Bejaardenbus did you watch it? I stand by my statement. Enjoy!
@@Bejaardenbus here it is. th-cam.com/video/_4jMQNJFPO4/w-d-xo.html we all have our favorite guitar tests, but to me, Green is so much stronger and clearer with his lines. It’s like he intends every single notes while often others play a flurry of notes without solid intention behind each one. No one will change anyone else’s mind on the internet, but that’s my opinion. Of course, I also love Green’s tone which some here don’t like.
@@JoelLaviolette just enjoy it man. The whole " this guy is better " thing sometimes just wears thin.I've seen that vid many timesI love Grant Green, l love Burrell. They are both carving it up and doing fantastic. Sometimes the male thing is just battling out who the best gladiator is. They are all fantastic.cheers
GREAT video! And I agree about his tone.
yeah it's easy to sleep on him for awhile... until you sit down to transcribe one of his solos. Thanks for doing this video!
Glad you like it!
Grant Green has been my fave for a long time, and I love his tone, he was quoted as saying he doesn't play a lot of chords because he doesn't like to hear a lot of chord clusters, i.e. keep it clean and simple. Check out his solo on "Hurt So Bad".
As a violinist that has no idea why this video was in my feed, I somehow ended up watching the whole thing 😂 I though classical musicians were hardcore about tone, but this jazz tone stuff seems to be extremely competitive
Haha! There are nerds everywhere! 😁 Glad you like the video!
I discovered Grant green about three years ago. He's got a great style. Idle Moments has a lot of great guitar parts.
I recently discovered another one. Very underrated. His name is Ray Crawford, and he was part of the Ahmad Jamal trio on the first albums. This goes back to 1955 and he gets some really great electric guitar sounds, including his signature bongo trick.
If you have not heard Ray Crawford, you need to. He was miles ahead.
I studied one of his solos when I was at the conservatory (thanks teacher!), and he played the I in a blues with a maj7. It didn't sound off at all! Melody is queen! The tone however... 😅
thanks again! indeed full of interesting and manageable techniques that i will try to bring into my paying.
Great, Nico!
Grant Green initiated my interest in jazz guitar. But Solid is harder to access for me than all his other records. Please do a lesson on it to open it up and explain the differences to his earlier work. What comes from the modal and hard bob and did he add personal stuff to the genres? And then the third lesson about maybe Upshot, that I find is one of the most inspired from his third phase, and is his own composition. Thank you Jens, for your work. You are the most inspiring and deep digging jazz teacher!
One of your best, Thx once again Sir! 😎👑
Thank you very much. I'm really glad you like it
A h Mr Green. My Favourite
Great video as always! But I gotta say....I LOVEEEE Grant's tone : )
fantastic. finally i found something to train my ear training
Perfect!
Yeah, he's my favorite.
Yes…..Thanks Jens-it’s been a while since I commented, but doesn’t mean I’ve been missing your vids by any means. Several years ago I asked you to post some grant green stuff and this is exactly why; thanks for articulating this in a way I never could and sharing your insights to some of grant’s basic concepts, so very excellent good sir!
Be creative. I love traditional big band stuff. I also love the 1990's "Seattle Sound", which was the first thing I learned. Stick a Big Muff or a DS-1 in your signal chain. Play!!! Have fun!!! I'm not a jazz guitarist, but I've been playing since '93 when I learned STP's "Plush" from tabs in Guitar World magazine. (whispers: MAKE IT YOUR OWN!!!)
(right?!) ✌💗🤘
P.S. I'm always excited for Jens' videos because I've only started learning. I also apologize if I sound crude, but I started drinking the second I got home from a hell night in a kitchen. Maybe I'll eat my stupid ego and go back to school by the time I'm 50 lol
I learned to play in the ‘60’s listening to Grant Green and Mundell Lowe.
grant green and kenny burrel are probably my favorite guitarists after bb king obviously
I hear you. I've complained about Jeff Beck's tone for years. But let's listen to GG. I've never heard of an enclosure. It's a theory concept, no doubt. Bringing a phrase home, or something. You Northern Europeans are good engineers. Mainly, I get inspired to listen to the source you're referencing. Thanks, Larsen.
I found Grant Green about a month ago. This video is great for a beginner like me. 👏🏻