Jazzmatazz Review - Alive

Grant Green

Alive
(Blue Note)

Alive features guitarist Grant Green in a stretched out live performance from 1970 recorded in a club by his working group with Blue Note drummer Idris Muhammed added. Organist Neal Creque was also added to perform on his two compositions

The playing is more funk and pop-based than bop—they even play a version of "Let the Music Take Your Mind" by Cool & The Gang. However, Green's single note runs solos still show his roots in blues (and R&B) and the influence of Charlie Parker and bebop.

Many of the tunes have a similar structure—the band plays the theme, then the rhythm section goes into short two or four bar vamps while Green, tenor sax player Claude Bartee and organist Neal Creque or Ronnie Foster take long solos. The soulful and jazzy solos are good, but the repetitious rhythm playing can sometimes seem almost unrelenting.

This release includes two bonus tracks that were originally issued on The Lost Grooves, plus a very nice, previously unreleased version of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage."

— Alan Lankin, December 2000

Release Date: 7 Nov 2000

Alive:

1. Let The Music Take Your Mind / 2. Time To Remember / 3. Band Introduction By Buddy Green / 4. Sookie, Sookie / 5. Down Here On The Ground / 6. Hey Western Union Man / 7. It's Your Thing / 8. Maiden Voyage

Personnel:
Grant Green: guitar / Claude Bartee: tenor sax / William Bivens: vibes / Neal Creque (#2,5), Ronnie Foster (#1,4,6-8): organ / Idris Muhammad: drums / Joseph Armstrong: congas

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last update 21 December 2000