Grant Green, The Latin Bit

[JohnS]

Just played this one through. I'm not a latin fan but I like this one very much, Green plays as well as ever, and I like the tunes, but I guess the shakers do get a tad tedious so the final blues comes as a relief. The additional tracks with Ike Quebec don't add much to the date but you do get a couple of solos from an uncredited (on my cd) Sonny Clark.

Edited May 19, 2010 by JohnS

[alankin]

I enjoy it.

[Shrdlu]

I like this, and all the early 60s BN sessions. You can't go wrong with Grant.

My favorite track is "Hey There", not on the original LP, but included with the U.S. CD reissue. That's a very tasty track.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

This isn't one of his best, but it's bloody great!

There are two things that really get me about it.

"Mama Inez" - the swing on this is just beautiful.

"Besame mucho" - Grant's time and phrasing, when he's just playing the tune, are so expressive - I never fail to stand still and just sway.

MG

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

GRANT GREEN LPS ARE HARD TO FIND.

SERIOUSLY, they never pop up on ebay, i think one of the reasons is 1st of all THEY DONT EXIST. take a look at the discog: a lot of his early bn leader dates were unrelesaed at the time, like that "nigeria" one thats so good. whats up w/ GG and all his unreleased stuff. what were they trying to do to him? Latin bit when you think about it is one of his 1st released at the time solo lps! weird, huh.

[clifford_thornton]

Really hard to find them in good nick.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Really hard to find them in good nick.

I think GG did rather well in the ghetto in the early days. Albums like "Grant's first stand", "Green Street", "Grantstand", "Sunday mornin'" and "Latin bit" - his first 5 releases - are all pretty good party material and would have fared correspondingly well in the scratched to fuck stakes.

Note that all this stuff was recorded under the oversight/supervision of Ike Quebec. After his death, Duke Pearson took over and the music is much less party-oriented (and much more like jazz ) I'd love to see sales figures for BN LPs - I have a strong suspicion that sales of GG albums fell off after Pearson took over. But GG was a junkie and one of Alfred's favourite musicians - and always into Alf for dosh. He recorded more for BN than any other musician in the period 1961-65. So Alfred was recording a musician he liked a great deal, but making records he didn't think he could sell enough of (even though break-even point was 2,500 copies). And when he and Francis flogged BN to Liberty, there was scant chance of this stuff being issued (though "Street of dreams", which wasn't too old, and "Goin' west", which was quite old, were issued by Liberty). So most of it didn't get issued until Michael Cuscuna began to get them out in Japan and on the Rainbow series in 1979/80.

I bet it's equally hard to find good copies from the "Carryin' on" - "Lighthouse" period, too. More great party music, which sold very well in the ghetto.

So there are probably lots of shitty copies of the early albums around, but fewer (but maybe better preserved) copies of the later sixties ones. And the Jap and Rainbow issues probably didn't sell a lot before EMI bought UA and shut BN down in 1980.

MG

[kh1958]

GRANT GREEN LPS ARE HARD TO FIND.

SERIOUSLY, they never pop up on ebay, i think one of the reasons is 1st of all THEY DONT EXIST. take a look at the discog: a lot of his early bn leader dates were unrelesaed at the time, like that "nigeria" one thats so good. whats up w/ GG and all his unreleased stuff. what were they trying to do to him? Latin bit when you think about it is one of his 1st released at the time solo lps! weird, huh.

I only have Grantstand (blue and white Liberty), Idle Moments (blue Liberty), and Live at the Lighthouse (blue and white Liberty), the last of which I found recently in pristine condition.

[Big Al]

I was grooving this morning to Sonny Rollins doing "Rosita's Best Friend" (from Reel Life), and I thought of this thread. Wouldn't it be great to compile all of Sonny's calypso/West Indian tunes into one album and give it a theme, ala The Latin Bit? Sonny could be dressed on the cover in some traditional costume...it would be a hoot!

I would buy two copies and keep one in a safe deposit box as an emergency backup!

I like Latin Bit but I love Feelin the Spirit and Goin West! I'm glad I have all three, though!

[readyrudy30315]

Really hard to find them in good nick.

I agree that GG albums are hard to find.But to say that his albums feel off when Pearson took over is crazy.Have you heard Pearson on GG Idle Moments album/just awesome stuff.Pearson not only wrote Idle Moments.He produced,and arranged that whole session.Which became one of Blue Notes most succesful hard-bob dates.In my opinion Pearsson deserves more than that.And he deserves his rightfull place in the (Icons of Jazz) history books.If you read the history of Blue Note.Pearson is always mentioned in such a small way.Thats not how it should be.He helped Blue Note more than many know.He help guide the careers of up and coming artist.Some of those that was larger known than Pearson.But Pearson was always there.In the background is where he wanted to be.But his talent speaks for itself.Composer,arranger,producer of some of the most notable Blue Note sessions.Song for My Father,The Sidwinder,including Idle Moments all had the Pearson touch ! Lets not forget those that made others famous or rich for that matter,that enjoyed being in the background doing what they loved.Ike Quebec,and Duke Pearson was right in the thick of it all.Had they not been there,doing what they loved to do, regardless of seeking any fame or fortune,many of those that enjoy success today would not be where they are had it not been for Duke Pearson and Ike Quebec.Finally,lets not forget these jazz giants,who had what it took to put together some awesome Blue Note sessions.Lets give them there props in the history book.Its Long Overdue .

Edited May 22, 2011 by readyrudy

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

what, what is that? is that Duke Pearson? how do you have a pic of Duke Pearson? oh my god. duke pearson is #1 in jazz. how do you know him? where is D.P. chillin' in that pic, who else is with him? do you have any music tapes or any other Duke-releated stuff? what do you have? did you know the The Duke, like ever meet him, yourself? if the answer to this is yes can you tell us all about the duke and what kind of cat he was like?

Edited May 22, 2011 by chewy

[jazzbo]

Really hard to find them in good nick.

I agree that GG albums are hard to find.But to say that his albums feel off when Pearson took over is crazy.Have you heard Pearson on GG Idle Moments album/just awesome stuff.Pearson not only wrote Idle Moments.He produced,and arranged that whole session.Which became one of Blue Notes most succesful hard-bob dates.In my opinion Pearsson deserves more than that.And he deserves his rightfull place in the (Icons of Jazz) history books.If you read the history of Blue Note.Pearson is always mentioned in such a small way.Thats not how it should be.He helped Blue Note more than many know.He help guide the careers of up and coming artist.Some of those that was larger known than Pearson.But Pearson was always there.In the background is where he wanted to be.But his talent speaks for itself.Composer,arranger,producer of some of the most notable Blue Note sessions.Song for My Father,The Sidwinder,including Idle Moments all had the Pearson touch ! Lets not forget those that made others famous or rich for that matter,that enjoyed being in the background doing what they loved.Ike Quebec,and Duke Pearson was right in the thick of it all.Had they not been there,doing what they loved to do, regardless of seeking any fame or fortune,many of those that enjoy success today would not be where they are had it not been for Duke Pearson and Ike Quebec.Finally,lets not forget these jazz giants,who had what it took to put together some awesome Blue Note sessions.Lets give them there props in the history book.Its Long Overdue .

Well stated and welcome to the forum.

I'm all for props for Ike and Duke!

[readyrudy30315]

what, what is that? is that Duke Pearson? how do you have a pic of Duke Pearson? oh my god. duke pearson is #1 in jazz. how do you know him? where is D.P. chillin' in that pic, who else is with him? do you have any music tapes or any other Duke-releated stuff? what do you have? did you know the The Duke, like ever meet him, yourself? if the answer to this is yes can you tell us all about the duke and what kind of cat he was like?

Ok Chewy Here it is.Nows the time to reveal myself to you and others.Duke Pearson was my uncle.My mothers only brother.She is his only remaining living relative from his immediate family.Yes we were close,very close.More like father and son than nephew and uncle.He took me everywhere with him.I grew up digging his music from an early age.As well as many other jazz artist.But those on the Blue Note label was and still are some of my favorites of all time.When he was with Blue Note.I had the experience to see and hear hot wax hot off the press.The pic that you refer to,im not quite sure about myself.Theres nothing on the back of it.But I can tell you that one of the guys is Kenny Dorham,and probably Leo Wright.Yes I do have tons of stuff.Memoarabillia,pics,tapes,photos,and some music charts. Things that I dont even know what to do with ! I have saved all this stuff since his passing,augaust 4th 1980.I loved my uncle and love him for what he did for a living. Through him,i was able to meet some of the greats(or more famous) like Dizzy,Lee Morgan,Ella,Ron Carter,Donald Byrd just to name a few.Uncle Duke was a real cool cat.He was fun to be around and always kept us kids laughing whenever he was around.His song Jeannine was written for one of my cousins who just called as I was typing this post.Uncle Duke said that she had the prettiest brown eyes that he had ever seen.And thats how the song came about.My users name is ready rudy.And Im not nicknamed that becaues of uncle Duke recording Ready Rudy,named for the recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder.I was nicknamed that because one of my brothers use to play with Little Richard (lol ) Thats another story for another time.Im only a person thats trying to help keep uncle Duke leagcy alive.Im not looking for glory,money or fame.He was very special to me.And theres not a day that goes by that I dont think about him.Although he died young,his music lives on in me and those that loved him and his music.

[jazzbo]

Thank you for sharing. I'm glad you've joined this site, because there are many here who appreciate your uncle's work and talent and are happy to be able to hear posts just like this one above. Thank you for being here and all the best!

[Rooster_Ties]

what, what is that? is that Duke Pearson? how do you have a pic of Duke Pearson? oh my god. duke pearson is #1 in jazz. how do you know him? where is D.P. chillin' in that pic, who else is with him? do you have any music tapes or any other Duke-releated stuff? what do you have? did you know the The Duke, like ever meet him, yourself? if the answer to this is yes can you tell us all about the duke and what kind of cat he was like?

Ok Chewy Here it is.Nows the time to reveal myself to you and others.Duke Pearson was my uncle.My mothers only brother.She is his only remaining living relative from his immediate family.Yes we were close,very close.More like father and son than nephew and uncle.He took me everywhere with him.I grew up digging his music from an early age.As well as many other jazz artist.But those on the Blue Note label was and still are some of my favorites of all time.When he was with Blue Note.I had the experience to see and hear hot wax hot off the press.The pic that you refer to,im not quite sure about myself.Theres nothing on the back of it.But I can tell you that one of the guys is Kenny Dorham,and probably Leo Wright.Yes I do have tons of stuff.Memoarabillia,pics,tapes,photos,and some music charts. Things that I dont even know what to do with ! I have saved all this stuff since his passing,augaust 4th 1980.I loved my uncle and love him for what he did for a living. Through him,i was able to meet some of the greats(or more famous) like Dizzy,Lee Morgan,Ella,Ron Carter,Donald Byrd just to name a few.Uncle Duke was a real cool cat.He was fun to be around and always kept us kids laughing whenever he was around.His song Jeannine was written for one of my cousins who just called as I was typing this post.Uncle Duke said that she had the prettiest brown eyes that he had ever seen.And thats how the song came about.My users name is ready rudy.And Im not nicknamed that becaues of uncle Duke recording Ready Rudy,named for the recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder.I was nicknamed that because one of my brothers use to play with Little Richard (lol ) Thats another story for another time.Im only a person thats trying to help keep uncle Duke leagcy alive.Im not looking for glory,money or fame.He was very special to me.And theres not a day that goes by that I dont think about him.Although he died young,his music lives on in me and those that loved him and his music.

My Spidey senses are tingling.

[clifford_thornton]

As an archivist, it is my hope & non-denominational prayer that this "memorabilia" goes into an institution for safe keeping and sharing with interested scholars and students. Perhaps Emory, Clark or Rutgers?

And welcome, by the way!

[Niko]

Ok Chewy Here it is.Nows the time to reveal myself to you and others...

every day i come here in the hope for posts like this one (and it often takes months for one to come up) - thank you very much, waiting for more now (and will tell a friend who's a big DP fan to come here and wait for more as well :-) )

[Cali]

Ready Rudy, I'd like to echo some of the above greetings.

I've always loved Mr. Pearson's compositions, arrangements and playing. Here's hoping you share more information about him and his associations. Thank you for what you've already shared.

[Big Al]

Welcome to the forum, Ready Rudy! Thanks for sharing that story, what a wonderful legacy your uncle left, both personally and musically. Looking forward to (hopefully) more insights; I guarantee they will be appreciated around here!

[B. Goren.]

Welcome to the forum, Ready Rudy! Thanks for sharing that story, what a wonderful legacy your uncle left, both personally and musically. Looking forward to (hopefully) more insights; I guarantee they will be appreciated around here!

Yes!

[Rooster_Ties]

[jazzbo]

Okay, your reservations are duly noted. Twice.

[marcoliv]

Where is Daniel A, our key Pearson fan, to celebrate our newest member?

I should state that is a real pleasure to have you on board readyrudy. Your uncle is one of my heroes in jazz.

Marcus

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

hi readyrudy, amazing story. are these tapes the open-reel type? is any info written on the boxes?

um hey readyrudy i have another question a few hrs later now.......did Duke Pearson did pop music did he listen to the happening sounds. or was the just jazz all-the-way, all-the time? if so what specifically did he like to listen to and such

Edited May 24, 2011 by chewy

[shaft]

Wow Duke Pearson is one of my favorites!!! If his name is on a record I buy it for sure. The Phantom and his Big band record are the most listened to by me. Great great stuff. Kudos for posting this info.

Shaft