The Matador by Grant Green (CD, Apr-1990, Blue Note)

Album Features
UPC:	077778444220
Artist:	Grant Green
Format:	CD
Release Year:	1990
Record Label:	Blue Note
Genre:	Guitar, Jazz Instrument

Track Listing
1. Matador
2. My Favorite Things
3. Green Jeans
4. Bedouin
5. Wives and Lovers - (previously unreleased, bonus track)

Details
Contributing Artists:	Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner
Distributor:	EMI Music Distribution
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel: Grant Green (guitar); McCoy Tyner (piano); Bob Cranshaw (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).Producer: Alfred Lion.Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on May 20, 1965. Includes liner notes by Michael Cuscuna.Grant Green recorded so much high-quality music for Blue Note during the first half of the '60s that a number of excellent sessions went unissued at the time. Even so, it's still hard to figure out why 1964's Matador was only released in Japan in 1979, prior to its U.S. CD reissue in 1990 -- it's a classic and easily one of Green's finest albums. In contrast to the soul-jazz and jazz-funk for which Green is chiefly remembered, Matador is a cool-toned, straight-ahead modal workout that features some of Green's most advanced improvisation, even more so than his sessions with Larry Young. Part of the reason for that is that Green is really pushed by his stellar backing unit: pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Elvin Jones. Not only is Green leading a group that features one-half of the classic Coltrane Quartet, but he even takes on Coltrane's groundbreaking arrangement of "My Favorite Things" -- and more than holds his own over ten-plus minutes. In fact, every track on the album is around that length; there are extended explorations of two Green originals ("Green Jeans" and the title track) and Duke Pearson's Middle Eastern-tinged "Bedouin," plus the bonus cut "Wives and Lovers," a swinging Bacharach pop tune not on the Japanese issue. The group interplay is consistently strong, but really the spotlight falls chiefly on Green, whose crystal-clear articulation flourishes in this setting. And, for all of Matador's advanced musicality, it ends up being surprisingly accessible. This sound may not be Green's claim to fame, but Matador remains one of his greatest achievements. ~ Steve Huey