Who was Grant Green?
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A musical analysis of jazz guitar’s forgotten genius
This article is a part of my graduate assignment at the Aaron Copland School of Music.
Grant Green’s role in the development of jazz guitar has often been overlooked. With jazz giants such as Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell recording and performing around the same time as Green (late 1950’s & 60s), Green’s genius is often over shadowed.
Among jazz guitarists, Green is highly respected for his clean and cutting single note lines, sparkling tone and forward momentum. Green deserves further recognition because of his influence on the generations of guitarists who came after him.
Rhythm & Blues Guitarist at Heart
Grant Green (1931–1979) grew up playing blues, boogie-woogie and rock and roll in St Louis, Missouri. Although he was later influenced by horn players such as Lester Young and Charlie Parker, Green always returned to his Rhythm and Blues roots throughout his career. Green moved to NYC in the early 1960’s where he became the house guitarist for Blue Note records, recording many albums as a sideman (Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Henderson, Hank Mobley, Herbie Hancock) and as leader.
Grant Green’s Playing Style
R&B was always the basis of Green’s playing style. Through the influence of Parker and other horn players he included some bebop lines, chromaticism and altered harmonic colors but his playing was largely ‘inside’ and blues based.
Grant Green’s tone is a living, breathing, three dimensional thing. It’s a classic warm and rounded jazz guitar sound similar to Wes Montgomery or George Benson but unlike Montgomery and Benson, Green’s tones ‘cuts’ — it has a sparkling, gritty, bubbling clarity to it. Green created his sound by using a thin hollow body Gibson ES330 during the 1960’s. This gave him a more ‘electric’ sound rather than the full hollow body sound that Wes was known for.
Among jazz guitarists, Green’s time feel is one his most influential characteristics. He always sits right on top or in front of the beat, never laying back. Green’s lines have incredible clarity through his precise articulation; his picking technique was well refined.
Articulation-wise, Green’s playing is mostly picked, single note lines. He rarely played extended scaler lines with hammer on’s or pull offs, choosing instead to pick each note. Green would use down strokes as often as he could to get a ‘fatter’ sound. He would use slurs and hammer-ons for dramatic effect — usually in a trill or to emphasis a note at the cadence of a phrase.
Green’s phrasing was heavily weighted around the 1/4 note, much like Charlie Christian — rather than 8th note. His phrases have a heavy, solid foundation that Green counters with accented off beat stabs. Although he does employ some Parker influenced syncopated 8th note lines, the contour of Green’s lines is smooth, more similar to pre bebop musicians such as lester Young or Coleman Hawkins.
Grant Green’s Legacy
As a jazz guitarist living in NYC with the ability to learn from and watch many of the world’s living masters (Peter Bernstein, Paul Bollenback, Ed Cherry to name a few) I have found Green’s legacy to be alive and well. Green’s forward motion and clarity have been characteristics I am working hard to emulate. In the video above, you can hear how I struggled to match Green’s speed and 8th note precision; I still have plenty of catching up to do.
