 Grant Green In which Grant joins forces with the great Larry Young (organ), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), and Elvin Jones (drums) for some slightly-behind-the-trends crossover jazz, taking on the Beatles with the title cut and Jobim with the one millionth "Corcovado." But don't let the draggy track listing fool you ("Whoa – 'Stella By Starlight?!!!" By a JAZZ ARTIST?!!!") (Sarscastro-meter: 180), this is super cool Blue Note jazz that does not disappoint. Compared with albums like Feelin' the Spirit and Sunday Mornin', I Want to Hold Your Hand is a bit second-tier, but sometimes the mood strikes and a classic is too classic, you dig? Sometimes you need something a bit earthier, and this is nothing if not earthy. Young's warm organ tone blends brilliantly with Green's trademark style, crisp and ringing but never too sharp or cutting. Mobley plays very understated here, and even brings something new to "Corcovado" (in fact everyone involved seems to enjoy soloing on that one). "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is all but unrecognizable, done as a slow samba, and even though Green sticks close to the melody as usual, you wouldn't immediately think "I Want to Hold Your Hand" if you didn't know in advance that was what it was. The bossa nova craze trickles down a bit on that track and "Corcovado," with "Speak Low" given a Latinized treatment as well. The best cut is Steve Allen's "This Could Be the Start of Something," an underrated tune given a great performance with some wonderfully incessant background singing from (I assume) Green. Well, whoever that is grunting, good job. "Stella By Starlight" is organ-driven, also featuring some of that grunting (maybe it's Young), and "At Long Last Love," which closes the album, is done in the same general slow midtempo as the others, and ends things on a slightly unmemorable note. But that guitar tone is a thing of majesty – I'll take Grant Green over Wes Montgomery any day of the week except National Wes Montgomery day (sponsored in part by Montgomery Ward's, which also sponsors National Burt Ward day) – in his prime he was able to make that tired old instrument sing like no other guitarist in any style. I Want to Hold Your Hand is hardly his finest hour (it's only 41 minutes, for one thing), but it's hardly his flimsiset either, and any Grant Green album is worth a listen, anyway. This one has the additional benefit of a great band playing in a super relaxed setting. You do sort of wonder what the Beatles thought of it – Grant Green's inexplicable affection for their music would appear later in a cover of "A Day in the Life," too (on Green is Beautiful) – I bet it made them fidgety, though flattered.
Review by Ache Benderson |