Green's Greenery – Grant Green

"Grantstand" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.

While recorded at the session for Grant Green's third album as leader on Blue Note, "Grantstand" (1961), Green's Greenery was not publicly released until the album's CD reissue in 1987, likely because of its similarity to the 15-minute long Blues In Maude's Flat on the original release. Notably, this session is the only official recording of Yusef Lateef with Green, Al Harewood, or Jack McDuff. It's also one of only two studio recordings of Harewood and McDuff together—they would record again in 1993 for guitarist Joshua Breakstone's "Remembering Grant Green," which also includes a version of Green's Greenery and was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio.

With a catchy, riff-like melody, Green's Greenery is a delightfully bouncy B♭ blues that features inspired solo statements from Grant Green, tenor saxophonist Yusef Lateef, and organist Jack McDuff. Green solos first with his trademark blues-soaked style, incorporating some effective bebop vocabulary but first and foremost getting deep in the pocket and driving the band forward. Behind Lateef's soulful statement, Grant lays down some subtle and funky comping, locking in rhythmically with McDuff and Harewood while avoiding harmonic clashes with McDuff by using sparse voicings. Green's comping then widens up behind McDuff, incorporating a wider register and denser voicings in order to fill the primary comping role.

Guitarists of any level, though especially those who are at the beginner or intermediate level, will learn much through studying Green's groove, tastefulness, and situational awareness.

Dutch guitarist Jesse van Ruller exploded onto the scene in 1995, winning the Thelonious Monk Guitar Competition and recording alongside first-call musicians such as Tom Harrell, Billy Drummond and Christian McBride on vocalist Fleurine's 1995 album "Meant To Be," his first recording. "European Quintet" from 1997 was his debut album as a leader.

clip Jesse van Ruller's Transcribed Guitar Solo
One of the most fascinating aspects of Jesse Van Ruller's playing is his articulation style, which bestows an incredible amount of dynamic and rhythmic nuance onto every phrase that he plays. To attempt to capture these subtleties, our transcription contains two different note-head sizes and detailed slur markings.

Combined with Van Ruller's colorful harmonic and rhythmic imagination, this solo makes a great study for intermediate and advanced guitarists who want to improve their phrasing and get a glimpse into how a modern master approaches the blues.

While Jesse van Ruller's crisp and articulate sound, as well as his comfortable command of the blues language, reflect a clear understanding of Grant Green's style, his solo is quite different from Green's, with a greater emphasis on long eighth-note lines, harmonic ideas derived from the altered scale (7th mode of melodic minor), and triadic material. He also provides some tasteful, rhythmic comping behind Peter Weniger's soprano sax solo.