Though serious jazz fans certainly recognize the brilliance of guitarist Grant Green, his overall contributions to the genre were sorely underrated during his own lifetime. Well known as a Blue Note Records guitarist—he played on nine albums for the label in 1961 alone—Green helped raise the art of jazz guitar playing to new heights. Like his contemporary Wes Montgomery, Green's driving, aggressive tone was simultaneously fluid and eloquent. He moved freely from style to style, embracing bop, gospel, blues, Latin, country, soul, and funk. In the late '60s, Green forayed into pop-jazz.

Throughout his brief life, Green battled racial and religious barriers, two failed marriages, and a drug habit. This book follows him from his St. Louis gospel and blues roots to his heyday at New York's Blue Note Records; through a subsequent period of musical flux; on the club circuit in Detroit; and into eventual disillusionment, declining health, and his death in 1979 at age 43. Incredibly, Green's discography stands at 93 albums, and at 100-plus including the sampling done by today's acid-jazz and hip-hop groups.

"Nobody else I ever knew could make the guitar talk like that or speak like that."—George Benson, guitarist

"It is accurate, though somehow not adequate, to hail him as a vital new link in the six-stringed lifeline from Charlie Christian through Barney Kessel to Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery.... If a Grant Green had come along in 1938, playing exactly as he plays on this LP, the arrival of Charlie Christian the following year would have seemed anticlimactic."—Leonard Feather, noted jazz historian, in the liner notes on Green's 1961 Green Street album

From Amazon Books

This heartfelt biography celebrates the life and music of a late jazz guitar genius whose legend continues to grow today. Best known as a session leader and sideman for Blue Note Records in the '60s - he played on nineteen Blue Note sessions in 1961 alone- Grant Green helped make jazz guitar playing its own art form. His aggressive, rhythmic tone was simultaneously fluid and eloquent, and he moved freely between traditional bop, blues, gospel, Latin, soul, pop-jazz, and funk. Hitting the spotlight at age 25, Green recorded 93 albums from the early '60s through the late '70s, both as a stellar sideman and a leader. He worked with dozens of jazz greats - Herbie Hancock, Stanley Turrentine, Art Blakey, and many others - but his overall contributions to jazz were sorely underrated during his lifetime. Today, his music is sampled by acid-jazz and hip-hop artists such as Public Enemy, Us3, and A Tribe Called Quest, and several tribute albums have been recorded. This unique memoir honors Green's personal spirit and musical brilliance through the eyes of his family, close friends, fellow musicians, Blue Note Records staff, music critics, and loving fans of all kinds. This book also paints a revealing portrait of Green's lesser-known struggles with racial and religious barriers, failed marriages, drugs, and the declining health that led to his death in 1979 at age 43.

Kudos

"This is the definitive Grant Green biography. Definite pluses are a fairly complete discography, lots of new information about the guitarist's life and the obvious desire to be even-handed in getting all of the facts possible about this somewhat mysterious figure. Recommended." --Scott Yanow

"A well-written, richly illustrated book that will appeal to anyone interested in postwar jazz." --Library Journal

"...the book uncovers a fascinating presence, conveys the enchantment of jazz, and tells a worthy story truly." --Detroit Free Press

"[Grant] Green never reached the stature of the better-known jazz players but his technique and phrasing are no less inventive. This book is a fine look at how he continues to influence musicians everywhere." --Vintage Guitar

"...the affectionate biography often reads like the transcript from a family reunion." --Ray Gun

"Musician Green’s daughter-in-law writes an account of his brief life throough the eyes of his family, friends, [and] surviving musicians...Jazz fans will find this an involving survey." --Bookwatch