Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, what more can possibly be said?
Review: "I have been listening to jazz for years. Finally, not only a woman, but a black woman writing about jazz! This is a highly personal look at one hell of a player who never got his props. That a newcomer to the music - with credentials to spare as a journalist - took on the challenge of telling his story is admirable. Even courageous given her close ties to the subject and the obvious need to be objective. She succeeds more often than not. Her voice is a fresh one. Rare is that we get a document that refuses to overintellectualize a music that is, at its core, from the heart of a people - black people. The ones who don't get it are likely wanna-be guitarists hoping Ms. Green had given them the low-down on Grant's technique. This is not Grant Green 101, fellas. You have to get that for yourselves.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, what more can possibly be said?
Review: "I have been listening to jazz for years. Finally, not only a woman, but a black woman writing about jazz! This is a highly personal look at one hell of a player who never got his props. That a newcomer to the music - with credentials to spare as a journalist - took on the challenge of telling his story is admirable. Even courageous given her close ties to the subject and the obvious need to be objective. She succeeds more often than not. Her voice is a fresh one. Rare is that we get a document that refuses to overintellectualize a music that is, at its core, from the heart of a people - black people. The ones who don't get it are likely wanna-be guitarists hoping Ms. Green had given them the low-down on Grant's technique. This is not Grant Green 101, fellas. You have to get that for yourselves.

Rating:
Summary: Buy a Grant Green CD instead!
Review: Being a big fan of Grant's unique guitar playing, I've always wanted to know a bit more about the man behind the music. As far as I know, this is the only book about him. The book doesn't go into a great amount of detail. The discography and selected reviews are worth reading. I'd say your best bet to understanding Grant Green would be to spend the money you would plunk down on this book on a good CD of his- Idle Moments, Green Street, The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark. Then you can really get your money's worth...

Rating:
Summary: A definitive look at the life of guitarist Grant Green
Review: Grant Green was one of the finest jazz guitarists of the 1960's, a versatile player schooled in bebop who became greatly in demand for hard bop, soul jazz and funk dates; he recorded dozens of dates for the Blue Note label in the 60's, both as a leader and as a prolific sideman. After largely switching to r&b/funk by the end of the decade, his star faded. Heroin weakened his health and Green ended up dying of a heart attack in 1978 when he was 43. Sharony Andrews Green, the guitarist's daughter-in-law for a time in the 1990's, has put together the first book ever on Grant Green, a colorful biography that is quite definitive. She interviewed many of Green's relatives, friends, associates and fellow musicians. Her often conversational style is quite appealing and she tells stories from several different angles. One learns not only about Grant Green's music but the many contradictions in his religious beliefs, habits and personal life. Green comes across as a bit inconsistent in spots partly because he is seen in this biography as being many different people, depending on who is doing the reminiscing. There are some minor faults with some misunderstood names and too many pages of "Selected Reviews" at the end of the book by Tobias Jundt of Switzerland (these should not have been included at all). But there is also a complete discography, lots of new information about the guitarist's life and Sharony Green expertly separates facts from fiction, telling us more than we ever knew before about the great guitarist. A great book! One looks forward to Sharony Andrews Green's future projects.

Rating:
Summary: My thoughts on writing this book...
Review: I admit I knew very little about jazz when I first started researching Grant Green's life and know just a little bit more now. I feel like it could take several lifetimes to truly appreciate this mad treasury of music. Craziest thing...I am finally allowing myself to fully enjoy it this music we call jazz. My biggest discovery is that it is a most polite music. If Sesame Street were to ever do a segment on the act of sharing, they could pick this music to demonstrate it. They could show how every musician gets his (or her) turn at some point. Well, sometimes. Some songs call for more soloing than others and some people just don't like to share...I had a blast doing this book and am taking my time going through the CDs I have accumulated in the process of research. Shamefully, most are on Blue Note. And that may be, in part, because I love the label's history, its characters and yes, its music. Grant was a big part of that music. Please check out his life.

Rating:
Summary: this book just gives you the tip of the iceburg
Review: I loved this book. Usually biographies don't interest me, they tend to be a little dry. But a book on Grant Green is a welcome to my shelves. The author gives a great, but brief, insight into the guitarist's life. She does this through stories from people who knew Green, this is the appeal of her novel. The discography section was a happy surprise. I get to see Grant Green through the eyes of the people who knew him the most. I just wanted more, that's all.The only question I have to the record labels: Why hasn't all of his music been re-released?

Rating:
Summary: Superficial, disappointing, unfocused.
Review: I was thrilled to find that a book about Grant Green had been written, so I ordered it right away.Big mistake. This book has almost nothing to do with Green. The author is Grant Green Jr's ex-wife, and the book is essentially about her and her marriage, not Grant Green. She doesn't seem to know a thing about jazz, or music for that matter. I felt ripped off.There's more substantial information in a single album's liner notes than in this whole book. Calling this book superficial is being kind.

Rating:
Summary: My forty year wait is over!
Review: I've been a record reviewer, feature writer, disc jockey and a professional guitarist for over 42 years and I'm probably the biggest Grant Green fan in the world! For years, I tried to gather any information that I could to learn more about one of my idols to very little avail. Alas, my forty year wiat is over! I have to take umberage with some of the negative comments that I've read about this book at Amazon, which compelled me to comment. I felt very comfortable with Ms. Green's writing style and her telling of the Grant Green story. If you are a diehard jazz fan and especially a Grant Green one then this book would be welcomed with open arms even if it were loaded with faults, which it is not! The only information available for years about this amazing artist were in the liner notes of his albums and a few, very few articles in jazz or guitar periodicals. Even if you are not a big fan of Grant Green's, this book gives you great insight in, not only the man but the period in which jazz truly excelled as America's Art Form, the 50's and 60's. True, there is a lot of text about heroin and his addiction but one has to realize that the role models for Green and other artists of his period were similarly involved and sadly suffered the same fate. All Ms. Green does in her book is tell his story the way she uncovered it, warts and all! She's right on in stating "Redicovering The Forgotten Genius Of Jazz Guitar" and she eloquently leads the way to this rediscovery in her book! Once read, not only will you be a Grant Green fan but a Sharony Andrews Green fan as well.

Rating:
Summary: Read and Listen
Review: Pick up this book, put on the Idle Moments CD and enjoy. Good music biographies are rare, good writng in them even moreso. Ms Green tells a story about a jazz musician and a man in the African American world in the heyday of the Blue Note label. If you like music or cultural history, history of society and change, or just a good story, this is a book to relax with and to think about as you put it up and down while getting anther cup of coffee. I given copies to friends as a Holiday gift...no better endorsement than that! The book is also an urban travelogue in American jazz circle about an artist that was discovered by pickling up a album on a living room floor while visiting a boyfriend's home. And there is more to that story too. Thanks to Blue Note, Mosiac, and Sharony Andrews Green, Grant's music stays alive

Rating:
Summary: Read and Listen
Review: Pick up this book, put on the Idle Moments CD and enjoy. Good music biographies are rare, good writng in them even moreso. Ms Green tells a story about a jazz musician and a man in the African American world in the heyday of the Blue Note label. If you like music or cultural history, history of society and change, or just a good story, this is a book to relax with and to think about as you put it up and down while getting anther cup of coffee. I given copies to friends as a Holiday gift...no better endorsement than that! The book is also an urban travelogue in American jazz circle about an artist that was discovered by pickling up a album on a living room floor while visiting a boyfriend's home. And there is more to that story too. Thanks to Blue Note, Mosiac, and Sharony Andrews Green, Grant's music stays alive