Grant Green & Donald Byrd - His Majesty King Funk & Up With Donald Byrd 1995

This single Verve CD reissues the complete contents of two unrelated LPs: Grant Green's His Majesty King Funk (great title) and Up with Donald Byrd. Unfortunately, the music overall is not as rewarding as Green and Byrd's work of the period for Blue Note. Green is OK with a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Harold Vick and organist Larry Young, but the material (mainly fairly simple funk riffs) is disappointing. Trumpeter Donald Byrd has a potentially strong group with both Jimmy Heath andStanley Turrentine on tenors along with pianist Herbie Hancock and guitarist Kenny Burrell. However, the three- or four-voice Donald Byrd Singers and the arrangements by Claus Ogermanweigh down the date. Each album watered down its music to an extent in hopes of gaining commercial success, but neither really caught on. The results are interesting but somewhat forgettable. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK

Grant Green - Blue Breakbeats 1998

Blue Breakbeats is an essential collection of six of the funkiest breakbeat heavy songs in Grant Green's deep Blue Note catalog. Prolifically sampled by beat thirsty hip-hop producers and stylistically influential in separating Green from Wes Montgomery's ever-looming shadow, these songs were compiled from Green Is Beautiful, Visions, Alive!, Carryin' On, and The Final Come Down by DJ Smash. While certainly nothing new here for the collector, it's a great starter piece for newcomers and those seeking out the original breaks sampled over and over on late 20th century hip-hop records. Playful grooves and classic drumbeats thump underneath some of the slickest jazz guitar work of the 1970s, while stellar instrumentation alone is worth the price of admission. With it being said that these groundbreaking Blue Note soul/jazz records are the foundation of hip-hop, these cuts are brick-by-brick testimonials. AMG.

listen here

Buy @ Amazon: USA - FR - UK