Born To Be Blue

by Grant Green

Overview

Although Grant Green provided his share of groove-oriented soul-jazz and modal post-bop, his roots were hard bop, and it is in a bop-oriented setting that the guitarist excels on Born to Be Blue. Most of the material on this five-star album was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio on December 11, 1961, when Green was joined by tenor titan Ike Quebec, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes. Tragically, Quebec was near the end of his life -- the distinctive saxman died of lung cancer at the age of 44 on January 16, 1963 -- but there is no evidence of Quebec's declining health on Born to Be Blue. He was playing as authoritatively as ever well into 1962, and the saxman is in fine form on hard-swinging interpretations of "Someday My Prince Will Come" and Al Jolson's "Back in Your Own Back Yard." It's interesting to hear Quebec playing bop, for his big, breathy tone was right out of swing and was greatly influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. Although Quebec and Green (who was 14 years younger) had very different musical backgrounds, they were always quite compatible musically. They clearly enjoyed a strong rapport on the uptempo selections as well as ballads like "My One and Only Love" and Mel Torme's "Born to Be Blue." Originally a vinyl LP, this album was reissued on CD in 1989, when Blue Note added an alternate take of the title song and a previously unreleased version of Charlie Parker's "Cool Blues." ~ Alex Henderson

Product Details

Release Date:	10/25/2019
Label:	Blue Note
UPC:	0602577868443
Rank:	31708

Tracks

1. Someday My Prince Will Come
2. Born to Be Blue
3. If I Should Lose You
4. Back in Your Own Back Yard
5. My One and Only Love
6. Count Every Star

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Grant Green   Primary Artist,Guitar
Ike Quebec   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Sax (Tenor)
Louis Hayes   Guest Artist,Drums
Sam Jones   Guest Artist,Bass
Sonny Clark   Guest Artist,Piano

Technical Credits

Billy Rose   Composer
Larry Morey   Composer
Frank Churchill   Composer
Charlie Parker   Composer
Robert Mellin   Composer
Sammy Gallop   Composer
Richard Seidel   Liner Notes
Mel Torme   Composer
Michael Cuscuna   Producer
Ralph Rainger   Composer
Guy Wood   Composer
Al Jolson   Composer
Bruno Coquatrix   Composer
Dave Dreyer   Composer
Grant Green   Composer
Alfred Lion   Producer
Leo Robin   Composer
Bernard Paul Michel   Composer
Robert Wells   Composer
Chuck Stewart   Photography