I have always loved Grant Green's music. Not a big fan of the sell-out years where he tried to cross over into commercial success. Wes did it, Grant never quite managed to do anything but "sell out" in my opinion. And the music suffered. But that's not this CD...
This CD is straight-ahead jazz. Pure, solid, grooving, dramatic, powerful, inspirational, and just a true pleasure to listen to. Every member in the band plays like they've known each other since the womb. So very, very tight. Grant and Sonny are almost too nice to each other. They both try very hard to accomidate the other and make sure they have space to play. And when comping, Sonny and Grant compliment each other in a way that only true chemistry can create.
Grant's sound is very typical on this one. Signature single-note lines, not many chordal phrases. When i say, "typical" I mean typical of his greatest playing. I easily put this recording up there with Idle Moments.
My favourite track on the CD is,"It Ain't Necessarily So." The interplay between Grant and Sonny will just make you beam with happiness. Every time Grant tries to hand the lead off to Sonny, Sonny eggs him on verbally with, "go, just go!" And Grant anwers with some heartfelt passion and always finds a way to push himself. Grant shows off his incredible ability to flawlessly drag his notes on this CD too. His playing always seems so simple, but he's really a smart and knowledgeable player.
This is one of my desert island discs. You just can't go wrong popping this set into the player. Never lets you down. Simply put, if you're a fan of Grant's more straight-ahead, non-funkified music, then you will probably want to pick this CD set up.