Grant Green's EASY

[ghost of miles]

Just came across this 1978 album while I was looking for another Green LP in our station's library. Evidently it's been re-issued on CD:

Take a look at the set-list! Not surprising, really... although the Zevon tune did cause me to cock an eyebrow:

1. Easy

2. Just The Way You Are

3. Wave

4. Empanada

5. Nightime In The Switching Yard

6. Three Times A Lady

With Hank Crawford, Jorge Dalto, Karen Joseph, and Buster Williams. Might try to give it a spin later on after I'm off the board.

Edited July 24, 2004 by ghost of miles

[Dan Gould]

This is one of those 70s LPs that Yanow absolutely utterly dismisses. Basically says, if I recall correctly, that it sounds like everyone is waiting for lunch, hardly even bothering to "phone it in".

[ghost of miles]

I'm not expecting IDLE MOMENTS, if you know what I mean... But I love sifting through this stuff, because every once in awhile you hear something worthwhile. Probably won't be the case here, but that's one reason why 1970s jazz intrigues me... a lot of interesting things happening behind the stereotypical facades that have been erected.

[JSngry]

Pretty vapid as I recall it.

[wolff]

"Too large a part of Grant Green's legacy is commercial funk....Solid and Matador, along with such classics as Idle Moments, are the albums that truly represent Green." Micael Cuscuna (Solid liner notes)

I've never listened to one of his later LP's because of comments like this.

[Guest ariceffron]

WARREN ZEVON IS LIKE THE WEST COAST BOBBY DYLAN OF THE LATE 70S AND IT IS PERFECTLY UNDERSTANTABLE TO ME WHY GREEN WOULD WANT TO COVER ONE OF HIS TUNES.

[danasgoodstuff]

Grant's later Blue Notes are one thing (perfectly enjoyable, but there's nothing as good as Idle Moments even if you like funk), but EASY is quite another thing - it's like he's a sideman on his own record. Nice inside (back?) cover shot of a switching yard though...

[Chuck Nessa]

Scott was "on the money" with this vapid piece of crap. Unfortunately Green kept trying to erase his reputation in later life.

[DMP]

This is one of those albums that isn't good, but I enjoy it, nonetheless. It's smilar to a "CTI" album of the time in personnel and packaging - pop hits of the day done in an anonymous manner. Background filler. Green maybe breaks a sweat on one tune. Musically I'd put it a step ahead of the Wes Montgomery "A&M" material. It's not the worst Grant Green album, but close to the bottom.

[Dan Gould]

This is one of those albums that isn't good, but I enjoy it, nonetheless. It's smilar to a "CTI" album of the time in personnel and packaging - pop hits of the day done in an anonymous manner. Background filler. Green maybe breaks a sweat on one tune. Musically I'd put it a step ahead of the Wes Montgomery "A&M" material. It's not the worst Grant Green album, but close to the bottom.

May I ask what you consider his worst to be then?

[Jim R]

Musically I'd put it a step ahead of the Wes Montgomery "A&M" material.

A few steps behind, IMO.

[DMP]

I'd put it ahead of "The Main Attraction," another album where he was nowhere near the studio when the tracks were put down. And, of his "Blue Note" albums, "Visions" is lousy. (I've never heard "Final Comedown" all the way through.)

[DMP]

And "Shades of Green," now that I think of it. (By the way - what's the story with that "Versatile" label? Besides the lousy Green LP, there was that Buster Williams - even worse!)

[danasgoodstuff]

I kinda like Visions, sure many of the tunes are cheesey and none of the other players are any where near Grant's level, but RVG captures Grant's tone really well (I think he was using a new guitar/amp combo) and where else do you get to hear Grant play Mozart? It's not even the worst Blue Note for me and IMHO all the BN are better than EASY and The Main Attraction, as are at least most of his late '60s & early '70s sidemen dates for Prestige. The only official GG I've never heard is the Houston Person dbl LP for Eastbound (Westbound?) - saw it for $50 but didn't bite. And, of course, unissued BN stuffs.

[jazzypaul]

I know I'm in the minority, but of the later Grant Green stuff, Alive really speaks to me. Strangely, it's not for Grant's solos, which are great throughout the record, but rather for Ronnie Foster's solos, which peel paint off the walls (especially on the re-issue, with a killin' version of It's Your Thing). On the old JCS board, Yanow and I got into it over this record, and yes Dan, this is where my hatred of him stems. Call me irrational, but this record has a very soft spot in my heart.

I've yet to hear Easy, but I think it'd be worth a listen at some point. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and musically speaking, I guess I do a fair amount of garbage picking.

[Joe G]

I've yet to hear Easy, but I think it'd be worth a listen at some point. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and musically speaking, I guess I do a fair amount of garbage picking.

Scofield took the groove from Grant's version of Let the Music Take Your Mind (from Alive), tweeked it a bit, gave it the title Kool, and put on his album Groove Elation. It helps that John had Idris play on it. Ya never know where you'll find a gem.

[Hardbopjazz]

This is one of those albums that isn't good, but I enjoy it, nonetheless.  It's smilar to a "CTI" album of the time in personnel and packaging - pop hits of the day done in an anonymous manner.  Background filler.  Green maybe breaks a sweat on one tune.  Musically I'd put it a step ahead of the Wes Montgomery "A&M" material.  It's not the worst Grant Green album, but close to the bottom.

May I ask what you consider his worst to be then?

For me, Grant's worse album is The Main Attraction. Bought a import of this and wish I never did. 3 tracks, and Grant hardly plays any shit. The worst of the worst.

[JSngry]

I'm more than ok with the early "funk" stuff, and can even enjoy VISIONS on its own terms. But after that...

[ghost of miles]

ALIVE is a great party record--I featured it on New Year's Eve last year (including "It's Your Thing") and it went over quite well with the audience.

VISIONS intrigues me because Billy Wooten's on it. Was he on any other Green LPs?

Listened to the first track of EASY after starting this thread on Saturday, and yep, it's pretty vapid. I'll listen to the rest of it next week at the end of my shift.

Edited July 27, 2004 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

WARREN ZEVON IS LIKE THE WEST COAST BOBBY DYLAN OF THE LATE 70S AND IT IS PERFECTLY UNDERSTANTABLE TO ME WHY GREEN WOULD WANT TO COVER ONE OF HIS TUNES.

Geez, on an album of Commodores, Billy Joel, and Jobim tunes, it just kinda stuck out, know what I mean? B) I've still got EXCITABLE BOY on vinyl--bought it when I was a 12-yr-old nipper in late 1978.

[JSngry]

VISIONS intrigues me because Billy Wooten's on it. Was he on any other Green LPs?

Think he might have been on SHADES OF GREEN too. Not sure.

VISIONS is not a bad record at all, and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" was one of those jazz "hits" that you'd hear quite a bit almost everywhere but on the radio and white folks' homes . It's just a very, VERY blatantly "commercial" album, the kind of thing folks were doing in response to the early CTI success mixed in with the kind of thing folks were doing in response to the success of Wes Montgomery's A&M work.

But it's NOT vapid, and that is a not insignificant matter.

[DMP]

I guess you have to look at albums like "Visions" and Easy" as products of a time when record labels really didn't know what to do with their jazz "product." ("Natural Illusions," anyone?) I enjoyed the Green organ dates that preceeded "Visions" much more; while they, too, were "commercial," they somehow seemed more honest to me. And they were certainly more representative of what Green was actually doing in clubs at the time.

However, if you're a Grant Green fan, I can't imagine NOT wanting to hear "Easy," just out of curiosity. It's much more of a "CTI"-type record than his actual "CTI" record!

[Shawn]

I actually really like Visions....

[mailman]

Around 1980 I had an lp on Versitile by Cornell Dupree. It had sort of a disco feel to it but it wasn't awful, just not that good.

I've got the Houston Person Westbound 2 lp set recorded live in Detroit. I like this one. It's got a rotating cast of players. Etta Jones sings on two tracks-she's a favorite of mine. Green's playing here is fine. But $50. Geez that's an awful lot for something that is hardly essential. There's plenty of Houston Person out there, much of it quite good. He's a very underrated player.