BST 84432

Grant Green - Born To Be Blue

Released - 1985

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 23, 1961
Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Sonny Clark, piano; Grant Green, guitar; Sam Jones, bass; Louis Hayes, drums.

tk.24 Count Every Star

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 1, 1962
Ike Quebec, tenor sax; Sonny Clark, piano; Grant Green, guitar; Sam Jones, bass; Louis Hayes, drums.

tk.4 Someday My Prince Will Come
tk.11 If I Should Lose You
tk.15 My One And Only Love
tk.20 Back In Your Own Backyard
tk.23 Born To Be Blue

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Someday My Prince Will Come	Frank Churchill, Larry Morey	March 1 1962
Born to Be Blue	Mel Tormé, Robert Wells	March 1 1962
If I Should Lose You	Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin	March 1 1962
Side Two
Back in Your Own Backyard	Dave Dreyer, Al Jolson, Billy Rose	March 1 1962
My One and Only Love	Robert Mellin, Guy Wood	March 1 1962
Count Every Star	Bruno Coquatrix, Sammy Gallop	December 23 1961

Liner Notes

When Blue Note Records began life as one of the first independent jazz labels in 1939 it was devoted to the recording of New Orleans or Chicago style jazz, boogie woogie piano, and small group swing. Blue Note continued to record these styles until early 1947 when Babs Gonzales' Three Bips And A Bop with Tadd Dameron on hand as pianist-arranger produced Blue Note's first modern jazz session. At that point Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, who comprised the label's astute management team, made an abrupt switch in musical direction and began to devote themselves almost exclusively to capturing the newer, modern sounds on disc. With an occasional exception, such as the Sidney Bechet and Sidney DeParis sessions of the early 1950's, Blue Note maintained its devotion to current styles from then on. It was not until 1959 that Lion and Wolff again made a concentrated effort to present a musician with roots in the jazz of the swing era. This musician was tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec. Ironically Quebec's Swing Seven had recorded the last swing-oriented session prior to the Babs Gonzales date.

Quebec, who was born in Newark, N.J. in 191 8, performed with small bands led by Benny Carter, Roy Eldridge, Frankie Newton, Coleman Hawkins, Kenny Clarke, and others in the 1940's and worked on and off with Cab Calloway's big band from 1944 to 1951. Generally regarded as a big-toned tenor player out of the Hawkins-Webster school when he first appeared, he went on to develop his own recognizable identity. Quebec's mature playing was less decorative but more blues-oriented than Hawkins'. The rasp he employed at times to great effect was less harsh than Webster's and his ballads not as breathy. Ike was a thoughtful player who wasted few notes and could swing hard or caress a ballad with equal facility. His solos sometimes relied on simple paraphrases of the melody but his excellent use of dynamics and variation of tone gave his improvisations a strong sense of drama. Although rooted in the swing era rhythmically, Quebec had no problem adapting to modern rhythm sections as this record proves.

Ike recorded five sessions for Blue Note between 1944 and 1947. Although the 1947 session was his last for a number of years, he remained in touch with Lion and Wolff during the 1950s. He acted as unofficial talent scout for the label during this time and was present at many of the sessions.

In 1959 and 1960 Blue Note recorded a series of 45 rpm singles with Ike in an effort to launch a comeback for him. The singles fared well enough to prompt the label to issue an album. Heavy Soul, recorded December 26, 1961 with Freddie Roach on organ, was the first of four Quebec albums to be issued by Blue Note in this period. In 1980, previously unissued Quebec masters were released in the Blue Note Classic Series (With A Song In My Heart and Congo Lament). Enough material for three more albums still remains in the can.

On the second of Ike's albums to be issued by Blue Note, Blue and Sentimental, he was ably supported by a young guitarist named Grant Green who by that time had been recording for the label for about a year. The compatibility of these two artists is readily apparent. Quebec played on one track Count Every Star, of Green's December 23, 1961 session (the rest of which does not include Ike and has been issued in Japan as Gooden's Corner) and Blue Note brought them together again three months later for the second of the two dates included on this record.

Grant Green, born in St. Louis in 1931 , gained early experience working and recording with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and organist Sam Lazar, both musicians from his hometown. In 1960 at the urging of Lou Donaldson he moved to New York and soon became one of the most prolific artists on the Blue Note roster. From his first session late that year through 1965 and then again from 1969-1972 he went into the studio more than thirty times for Blue Note as a leader. He also made frequent appearances as sideman including sessions with Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine and most of the organists on the label. Green was an uncomplicated melodist whose style featured crisply stated single note lines that seemed to flow with great ease. He also possessed one of the most pleasing and distinctive guitar tones in jazz. Producer-writer Bob Porter has said that Grant had the ability to "take any good melody and make it sing." This is clearly borne out by the contents of this album.

The many records Grant made for Blue Note presented him in a wide variety of contexts, from organ trios to large ensembles in later years. With some exceptions like the classic Idle Moments session, the label tended to issue his more commercial or r&b-oriented efforts and none of the albums he made with the McCoy Tyner-Bob Cranshaw-Elvin Jones rhythm section or the rhythm section heard here were issued until 1979. These records showcase the natural unencumbered jazz improviser in Grant Green.

The other solo voice heard here is Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark, born near Pittsburgh in 1931. Clark first become known when based in Los Angeles in the early and mid-1950 s. There he worked with Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, and Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, eventually joining Buddy DeFranco's group for a three year stay. In 1957 he relocated to New York where he worked with Sonny Rollins and Charles Mingus, among others, and soon became a regular on Blue Note sessions as both a leader and a sideman. Along with Horace Silver he was one of the premier accompanists of his era and an inventive soloist as well.

Clark had featured Ike Quebec on one track of Leapin' and Lopin' his last Blue Note date as a leader. This track, Jimmy Von Heusen's "Deep In Dream", is Ike's ballad masterpiece, a powerful reading full of tremendous warmth and emotion. Always a masterful ballad player, Quebec is heard to great advantage on the ballads in this collection.

The rest of the rhythm section for these two sessions, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes, comprised one of the most cohesive teams in jazz during this period. Both then members of Cannonball Adderley's band, Jones and Hayes were known for solid dependable time and plenty of fire. The entire group on this record minus Quebec can be heard on Oleo and the aforementioned Gooden's Corner, issued in the late 1970's in Japan.

The material on Born To Be Blue consists entirely of standards including Evo of the finer ballads played by jazz musicians and on unlikely piece from the soundtrack of an animated fairy tale.

Someday My Prince Will Come from Walt Disney's Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs opens the album with Grant and Ike sharing the melody. This tune, as recorded by Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and others, is usually played as a waltz with a dreamy feel. In this version it is taken as a straight ahead up swinger in 4/4 time. Grant, Ike, and Sonny are all heard in solos with Grant returning for a second statement before they play the theme again.

One of the great pop standards written by a jazz musician is the title tune Born To Be Blue. Jazz singer Mel Torme wrote this tune and recorded it with his own Meltones in the mid-1940%. The whole feeling conveyed by the melody and its bittersweet lyrics is perfectly captured by Quebec's plaintive approach. This is the tenorist's feature and he makes the most of his opening chorus. Grant has sixteen bars before Ike reenters with an effecting cry. After another beautiful half chorus he concludes with an unaccompanied cadenza.

If I Should Lose You, although written in 1936, did not become a popular vehicle for jazz musicians until Charlie Porker recorded it with strings in 1950. Hank Mobley recorded it for Blue Note on his Soul Station album in 1960. Here the melody is played by Grant with a two feeling to the rhythm and Hayes on brushes. The drummer switches to sticks and the rhythm section goes into a walking 4/4 for the solos by Grant, Ike, and Sonny. Clark's single chorus is the most characteristic example of his playing on this record featuring his relaxed single note style, laconic and precise, with maximum but seemingly effortless swing.

Back In Your Own Backyard is the oldest tune here, written in 1928 by Dave Dreyer Al Jolson, and Billy Rose. Although first recorded by sweet bands of the late 1920's and early 1930's, two of its best known jazz versions are by the Fletcher Henderson orchestra with Chu Berry on tenor and Billie Holiday with Lester Young. It seems likely that Quebec would have been familiar with these versions and that he suggested recording the tune. As on Someday My Prince Will Come, Ike plays the opening chorus of his solo with just bass and drum accompaniment. This approach is found on most of the up-tempo tunes he recorded for Blue Note and is an effective tension-building device. The tension is released here and the whole band really takes off when both Clark and Green begin to comp behind Ike's second and third choruses. Notice also how Ike frames his solo with a quote from Duke Ellington's "What Am I Here For?" Instead of re-stating the melody after second solos by Grant and Ike, the band takes it out with a repeating four bar tag over which the guitar and tenor solo simultaneously.

My One and Only Love is a majestic ballad that seems to have been a particular favorite of tenor players, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins, among others, have all recorded it. Grant's singing tone clearly states the melody here and Quebec, although allotted only sixteen bars makes his presence felt.

Count Every Star is the only track here to have been previously issued. Originally included on Quebec's Blue and Sentimental album (surprisingly for Blue Note without correct personnel identification) it is a 1950 pop tune not frequently performed by jazz musicians. Grant again has the melody to himself, Ike gets a brief statement, and then Grant takes it out with Ike playing gently behind him in the background.

Grant Green, Ike Quebec, and Sonny Clark were three musicians with much in common. They were all simple, direct players with strong melodic approaches and much rhythmic drive, as evidenced on this album. Sonny and Ike died within a few days of each other in January, 1963, and Grant died in January, 1979, all well before their time. We are fortunate that Blue Note recognized the value of these underappreciated musicians and recorded them frequently. Born To Be Blue should be a lasting example of their creative contributions.

—RICHARD SEIDEL