Grant Green
b. 6 June 1931, St Louis, Missouri, USA, d. 31 January 1979. Heavily influenced by Charlie Christian, guitarist Green first played professionally with Jimmy Forrest. Although noted particularly for his work in organ-guitar-drum trios in the '50s, throughout his career Green was associated with post-bop musicians and in the '60s he recorded for the Blue Note label with Stanley Turrentine, Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and others. The flowing, single-line solos characteristic of Christian's early experiments in bebop were evident in much of Green's work. At home in several areas of jazz, he had a particularly strong affinity with the blues, while one album, FEELIN’ THE SPIRIT, features gospel music. Nevertheless, he was essentially modern in his approach to music. Drug addiction severely limited his career in the '70s and he died in 1979.