Grant Green: Essential Albums, Discography & Vinyl Pressing Guide
Grant Green (1935 to 1979, though some sources give 1931 for his birth) was Blue Note's house guitarist of the early 1960s, a blues-rooted single-note player who recorded more than two dozen albums as a leader for the label and played on close to thirty more. Collectors chase his Plastylite originals. Start with Idle Moments (Blue Note BLP 4154, recorded 1963).
Every recording date, catalog number and personnel credit here was checked against jazzdisco.org, Discogs and LondonJazzCollector. Where the sources disagree, the page says so instead of picking one.
Essential as a Leader
The ten Grant Green leader albums to own, ranked. The ranking follows this site's own reviews, weighed against the critical record; every title links to its full review.
| # | Album | Recorded | First issue | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Idle Momentswith Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Duke Pearson, Bob Cranshaw, Al Harewood | Nov 4 and 15, 1963 | Blue Note BLP 4154 / BST 84154, 1965 | The 14:56 title track was kept instead of a shorter retake, and two other tunes were recut to make the LP fit. AllMusic 5 stars; Penguin Guide 4 of 4. |
| 2 | Green Streetwith Ben Tucker, Dave Bailey | Apr 1, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4071, 1961 (mono only at release) | Guitar, bass and drums, nothing else. With no piano or organ behind him, every chord you hear is one Green implies with a single line. |
| 3 | Matadorwith McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw, Elvin Jones | May 20, 1964 | Blue Note GXF-3053 (Japan), 1979. No US LP until Music Matters in 2010 | Tyner and Jones from John Coltrane's working quartet, with Green out front. Shelved for fifteen years. AllMusic 5 stars. |
| 4 | Solidwith Joe Henderson, James Spaulding, McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw, Elvin Jones | Jun 12, 1964 | Blue Note LT-990, 1979 | The same Tyner and Jones pairing three weeks after Matador, now with two horns. Never issued in the 1960s. AllMusic 4.5; Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide 5. |
| 5 | Sunday Mornin'with Kenny Drew, Ben Tucker, Ben Dixon | Jun 4, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4099 / BST 84099, 1962 | A piano quartet playing six tunes, three of them Green originals, from the title track to Miles Davis's "So What." Rated 5 stars on this site. |
| 6 | Grant's First Standwith Baby Face Willette, Ben Dixon | Jan 28, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4064, 1961 (mono only at release) | His first released album as a leader, an organ trio. AllMusic calls it "one of his greatest pure soul-jazz outings." |
| 7 | Talkin' About!with Larry Young, Elvin Jones | Sep 11, 1964 | Blue Note BLP 4183 / BST 84183, 1965 | The first of five Green sessions with Larry Young between September 1964 and May 1965. AllMusic 4.5. |
| 8 | Born to Be Bluewith Ike Quebec, Sonny Clark, Sam Jones, Louis Hayes | Mar 1, 1962 (one track Dec 23, 1961) | Blue Note BST 84432, 1985 | Standards with Ike Quebec and Sonny Clark, unissued for 23 years. Penguin Guide 4 of 4 (2008 edition). |
| 9 | Feelin' the Spiritwith Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren, Billy Higgins, Garvin Masseaux | Dec 21, 1962 | Blue Note BLP 4132 / BST 84132, 1963 | Five spirituals played by a quartet with a 22-year-old Hancock, plus tambourine on all but "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child." |
| 10 | Am I Bluewith Joe Henderson, Johnny Coles, John Patton, Ben Dixon | May 16, 1963 | Blue Note BLP 4139 / BST 84139, 1964 | This site's contrarian pick. We rate it 5 stars; the Penguin Guide gives it 2.5 of 4. Ballads and standards with two horns and organ. |
Three of the top ten never came out while Green was alive. Matador, Solid and Born to Be Blue sat in the vault until 1979 and 1985, so there is no 1960s original to hunt. The vintage copies are the late-1970s and 1980s issues, and the modern audiophile LPs are often the better buy.
Duke Pearson's liner notes explain why Idle Moments runs so long. The band played his 16-bar melody twice, so a chorus became 32 bars, and every solo doubled in length. That is why Wikipedia describes confusion over 16 or 32 bars and Blue Note's store copy says Green soloed for 64 bars instead of 32: the two accounts count the same doubled form. Alfred Lion wanted a retake that fit a seven-minute limit, but the long take stayed, and "Django" and "Jean De Fleur" were recut shorter on November 15.
Also on the shelf
- Grantstand: recorded Aug 1, 1961; BLP 4086 / BST 84086, 1962; with Yusef Lateef (tenor and flute), Jack McDuff, Al Harewood.
- Street of Dreams: recorded Nov 16, 1964; BLP 4253 / BST 84253, 1967; organ quartet with Bobby Hutcherson, Larry Young, Elvin Jones.
- I Want to Hold Your Hand: recorded Mar 31, 1965; BLP 4202 / BST 84202, 1966; with Hank Mobley, Larry Young, Elvin Jones.
- The Latin Bit: recorded Apr 26, 1962; BLP 4111 / BST 84111, 1963; with John Acea, Wendell Marshall, Willie Bobo and Latin percussion.
- His Majesty King Funk: recorded May 26, 1965; Verve V-8627 / V6-8627, 1965; his one Verve album, with Harold Vick and Larry Young.
- Goin' West: recorded Nov 30, 1962; BST 84310, 1969 (stereo only); country and western songs with Herbie Hancock, Reggie Workman, Billy Higgins.
- The Sonny Clark quartet dates, first issued 1979 to 1980: Gooden's Corner, Nigeria and Oleo.
Essential as a Sideman
From January 1961 on, Green played on close to thirty Blue Note albums under other leaders, many of them organ and soul-jazz dates. These ten are the ones collectors track down.
| Leader | Album | Recorded | First issue | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hank Mobley | Workoutwith Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones | Mar 26, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4080 / BST 84080, 1962 | Scott Yanow picked it for AllMusic's list of 17 essential hard bop recordings. The most-auctioned Green sideman LP in LondonJazzCollector's price survey. |
| Ike Quebec | Blue & Sentimentalwith Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones; "Count Every Star" with Sonny Clark, Sam Jones, Louis Hayes | Dec 16 and 23, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4098 / BST 84098, 1963 (Wikipedia says 1962) | AllMusic 5 stars, "a quiet, sorely underrated masterpiece." The highest average sale price of any Green sideman title in that same survey. |
| Lee Morgan | Search for the New Landwith Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Reggie Workman, Billy Higgins | Feb 15, 1964 | Blue Note BLP 4169 / BST 84169, 1966 | Green's only session with Wayne Shorter, shelved for two years. AllMusic 5 stars. |
| Larry Young | Into Somethin'with Sam Rivers, Elvin Jones | Nov 12, 1964 | Blue Note BLP 4187 / BST 84187, 1965 | Young's Blue Note debut as a leader and Green's only date with Sam Rivers. Green wrote "Plaza de Toros." AllMusic 4.5. |
| Horace Parlan | Up & Downwith Booker Ervin, George Tucker, Al Harewood | Jun 18, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4082 / BST 84082, 1963 | Includes Green's tune "The Other Part of Town." Held back for almost two years. AllMusic 4.5. |
| Stanley Turrentine | Up at "Minton's," Vols. 1 and 2with Horace Parlan, George Tucker, Al Harewood | Feb 23, 1961, live at Minton's Playhouse | BLP 4069 / BST 84069, 1961; BLP 4070 / BST 84070, 1962 | The only live location among Green's Blue Note sessions from 1961 to 1966 in jazzdisco's discography. Buy the two volumes as a pair. |
| Herbie Hancock | My Point of Viewwith Donald Byrd, Grachan Moncur III, Hank Mobley, Chuck Israels, Tony Williams | Mar 19, 1963 | Blue Note BLP 4126 / BST 84126, 1963 | Green's only session with Tony Williams. Wikipedia puts him on two tunes; jazzdisco lists him for the whole date. |
| Lou Donaldson | Here 'Tiswith Baby Face Willette, Dave Bailey | Jan 23, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4066, 1961; BST 84066, 1962 | Cut five days before Grant's First Stand. AllMusic 4.5. |
| Don Wilkerson | Preach Brother!with Sonny Clark, Butch Warren, Billy Higgins | Jun 18, 1962 | Blue Note BLP 4107 / BST 84107, 1962 | The only session of the period with Green and Sonny Clark both working as sidemen. AllMusic 4. |
| Baby Face Willette | Stop and Listenwith Ben Dixon | May 22, 1961 | Blue Note BLP 4084 / BST 84084, 1962 (Wikipedia says 1961) | The organ trio of Grant's First Stand, under Willette's name four months later. AllMusic 4.5. |
The Sonny Clark question
Green is often listed as a Sonny Clark sideman. He never played on a Clark leader date. Clark's own record from that season, Leapin' and Lopin', has no guitar. What the two men share is Green's quartet sessions of December 1961 and January 1962, first issued as Gooden's Corner, Nigeria and Oleo and then collected by Mosaic as The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Grant Green with Sonny Clark (MR5-133), plus Born to Be Blue and Don Wilkerson's Preach Brother!
One more credit that trips people up: tenor saxophonist Fred Jackson is not on Grant's First Stand. He is on Baby Face Willette's Face to Face (Blue Note BLP 4068), cut two days later with the same organ, guitar and drums.
Other sideman records reviewed here
- Lou Donaldson, Good Gracious! (recorded Jan 24, 1963; BLP 4125 / BST 84125, 1964), organ quartet with John Patton and Ben Dixon.
- Donald Byrd, I'm Tryin' to Get Home (BLP 4188 / BST 84188, 1965). Green plays only on the December 17, 1964 titles: the title track, "March Children" and "Brother Isaac."
- Stanley Turrentine, Rough 'N Tumble (recorded Jul 1, 1966; BLP 4240 / BST 84240, 1966), a Duke Pearson-arranged octet with McCoy Tyner.
The 1970s Funk Turn
After two largely inactive years, Green came back in 1969 with a funk and soul-jazz band. It is a second career, a different buyer, and a different pressing story.
| Album | Recorded | First issue | For the crate digger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carryin' Onwith Claude Bartee, Willie Bivens, Clarence Palmer, Neal Creque, Jimmy Lewis, Idris Muhammad | Oct 3, 1969 | Blue Note BST 84327, 1970 | The comeback record. Blue Note reissued it on LP in its Rare Groove Series in 1995. No audiophile reissue. |
| Green Is Beautifulwith Blue Mitchell, Claude Bartee, Emmanuel Riggins, Neal Creque, Jimmy Lewis, Idris Muhammad, Candido Camero, Richard “Pablo” Landrum | Jan 30, 1970 | Blue Note BST 84342, 1970 | Includes "Ain't It Funky Now." Classic Vinyl Series LP, 2023. |
| Alive!with Claude Bartee, Willie Bivens, Ronnie Foster, Neal Creque, Idris Muhammad, Joseph Armstrong | Aug 15, 1970, Cliché Lounge, Newark | Blue Note BST 84360, 1970 (Discogs dates it March 1971) | "Down Here on the Ground" is the source of A Tribe Called Quest's "Vibes and Stuff." Blue Note 80 LP, 2019. |
| Visionswith Emmanuel Riggins, Billy Wooten, Chuck Rainey, Idris Muhammad, Harold Caldwell, Ray Armando | May 21, 1971 | Blue Note BST 84373, 1971 | "Maybe Tomorrow" is the sample under Kendrick Lamar's "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst." Classic Vinyl Series LP, 2024. |
| Shades of Greenwith Billy Wooten, Emmanuel Riggins, Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, King Errisson; arranged by Wade Marcus | Nov 23 and 24, 1971, Los Angeles | Blue Note BST 84413, 1972 | Horns and woodwinds were overdubbed at Van Gelder's in December. No vinyl reissue since the 1970s. |
| The Final ComedownWade Marcus orchestra with Richard Tee, Cornell Dupree, Gordon Edwards, Grady Tate, Bernard Purdie | Dec 13 and 14, 1971, New York | Blue Note BST 84415, 1972 | The film soundtrack. Pure Pleasure issued a 180g LP in 2004. |
| Live at the Lighthousewith Claude Bartee, Gary Coleman, Shelton Laster, Wilton Felder, Greg Williams, Bobbye Hall | Apr 21, 1972, Hermosa Beach | Blue Note BN-LA037-G2 (2 LPs), 1972 (Wikipedia says February 1973) | No vinyl reissue since the 1970s, so the United Artists-era double LP is the only way to own it on vinyl. |
These are not Plastylite records. The first pressings of Carryin' On, Green Is Beautiful and Alive! carry the black-and-blue Liberty and United Artists "b" label; the 1971 and 1972 titles came out on United Artists-era Blue Note labels. There is no ear to look for, and condition matters more than label variants. The hip hop samples keep demand for the 1970s LPs steady, and AllMusic's Steve Huey called Carryin' On "a solid addition to any acid-jazz/funk/rare-groove library."
The gap before the comeback has a documented cause. Wikipedia, citing Scott Yanow, says Green was inactive from 1967 to 1969 because of personal problems and heroin addiction. He spent much of 1978 in hospital, went back on the road against medical advice, and died of a heart attack in his car in New York City on January 31, 1979. The later records Iron City! (recorded 1967, Cobblestone 1972), The Main Attraction (Kudu, 1976), Easy (Versatile, 1978) and the shelved Live at Club Mozambique (recorded 1971, issued 2006) are all reviewed on the era pages.
How to Spot a First Pressing
What the first US pressing of each 1960s Grant Green Blue Note LP should show. The general rules come first, because on these titles they matter more than any one mark.
- The earA small "P" stamped in the deadwax means Plastylite pressed it. Blue Note pressings carry it until production moved to Liberty's plant in 1966. Liberty's All-Disc pressings have none, even when they used leftover New York USA labels.
- The Van Gelder markMachine-stamped "RVG" first, then "VAN GELDER" from mid-1962. It tells you whose master the metalwork came from, not when the record was pressed, and Liberty kept using the old stampers.
- The deep grooveProof of an early pressing only for releases before 1961. Plastylite used old and new dies at random until late 1965, so a Green first pressing may have a groove on both sides, one side or neither.
- The label address47 West 63rd gave way to New York USA labels during late 1961 and 1962, with old stock mixed in, and "A Division of Liberty Records" arrived in 1966. The address is the earliest a copy can be, never proof of how early it is.
| Album | Label address | Deep groove | Ear | Stamp | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant's First StandBLP 4064 | 47 West 63rd, both sides | Both sides | Yes | RVG, with 9M etched | Mixed 47 West 63rd and New York labels; New York labels both sides. The first stereo copy, BST 84064, was pressed after the Liberty sale. |
| Green StreetBLP 4071 | New York USA, both sides | Both sides | Yes | RVG | Identical labels with no groove, or a groove on one side only, are later Plastylite runs. The first stereo copy is also a Liberty-era pressing. |
| GrantstandBLP 4086 | New York USA | Side 1 only | Yes | RVG | 1966 All-Disc stereo copies with no ear. |
| Sunday Mornin'BLP 4099 | New York USA † | Not documented | Yes | VAN GELDER | Liberty pressings that still carry the Van Gelder stamp. |
| The Latin BitBLP 4111 | New York USA † | Not documented | Yes | VAN GELDER | A 1966 All-Disc mono with the Van Gelder stamp and no ear. |
| Feelin' the SpiritBLP 4132 | New York USA, both sides | Not documented: copies exist with and without | Yes | VAN GELDER | Later copies without the groove, and 1966 to 1968 Liberty pressings. |
| Am I BlueBLP 4139 | New York USA † | Side 1 only | Yes | VAN GELDER | A second pressing with no groove, and 1966 stereo copies on New York labels with no ear. |
| Idle MomentsBLP 4154 | New York USA | None | Yes | VAN GELDER | 1966 Liberty mono and stereo pressings without the ear, the most common copy sold as an "original." |
| Talkin' About!BLP 4183 | New York USA † | Not documented | Yes | VAN GELDER | 1966 Liberty stereo pressings. |
| I Want to Hold Your HandBLP 4202 | New York USA, both sides | None | Yes | VAN GELDER | 1966 stereo copies on New York labels with no ear, and Liberty represses. |
| Street of DreamsBLP 4253 | A Division of Liberty | None | No, it post-dates Plastylite | VAN GELDER | The real first pressing is a Liberty, so dealers often price it as a reissue. West Coast pressings lack the Van Gelder stamp. |
| Goin' WestBST 84310, stereo only | A Division of Liberty † | None | No | VAN GELDER | Two label typesettings exist, with and without quotation marks around the title. Which came first is not documented. A capitalised "SIDE" means a West Coast pressing. |
† Follows the label-era rule for the release date, and is confirmed by only one Discogs entry or none; not documented title by title in Fred Cohen's guide as reported by the sources used here. "Not documented" means no source used for this page records it.
For the sideman records, Up at "Minton's" Vol. 1 (BLP 4069) first pressings have 47 West 63rd labels and a groove on both sides; Vol. 2 (BLP 4070) is documented by a single Discogs entry on 47 West 63rd labels despite its 1962 release. Hank Mobley's Workout (BLP 4080) first pressings have a 47 West 63rd label on one side and New York USA on the other. Discogs notes that no Plastylite copy is known with 47 West 63rd on both. The site's own Blue Note pressing guide covers the label eras and the deadwax in more depth.
Which Reissue to Buy
Most Grant Green records have at least one modern LP that sounds excellent and costs a fraction of an original. Here is every program that has touched his catalog, and the best-supported choice title by title.
| Program | What you get | Grant Green leader titles | Sideman titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tone PoetBlue Note, 2019 on | Produced by Joe Harley, cut by Kevin Gray from the analog tapes, 180g at RTI, gatefold tip-on jackets. | Born to Be Blue (2019), Nigeria (2020), The Latin Bit (2022), Feelin' the Spirit (2022), I Want to Hold Your Hand (2023) | Bobby Hutcherson, The Kicker (2020); Herbie Hancock, My Point of View (2020); Harold Vick, Steppin' Out (2022) |
| Classic Vinyl and Blue Note 80Blue Note, 2019 on | Kevin Gray mastering, 180g at Optimal, standard jackets. Blue Note marks the titles cut from a digital source on its schedules. | Grant's First Stand (2019), Alive! (2019), Idle Moments (2021), Green Is Beautiful (2023), Green Street (2023), Visions (2024), Solid (2025), Street of Dreams (August 2026) | Larry Young, Into Somethin' (2020); Lee Morgan, Search for the New Land (2024); Hank Mobley, Workout (2024) |
| Music Matters Jazz45 and 33 rpm series | Limited 45 rpm double LPs, later single 33 rpm LPs, cut from the original analog tapes and pressed at RTI. | 45 rpm: Matador, Solid, Talkin' About! (2010), Street of Dreams (2012), Gooden's Corner (2013). 33 rpm: Idle Moments (2014), Matador and Green Street (2015), Solid on SRX vinyl (2019) | Search for the New Land, Into Somethin', Blue & Sentimental, Workout |
| Analogue Productions2009 to 2010 | 45 rpm double LPs cut by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman, pressed at RTI. | Idle Moments, Green Street, Grantstand | Ike Quebec, Blue & Sentimental |
| Blue Note 752014 to 2015 | Budget 180g LPs. Michael Fremer reported the series was cut from digital files. | Idle Moments, Street of Dreams, I Want to Hold Your Hand | |
| Blue Note Essentials2026 | 140g LPs from a hi-res digital master, pressed at Optimal. Not an audiophile series. | Idle Moments, due September 25, 2026 | |
| One-offs | Licensed or boxed editions. | Sunday Mornin' on Slow Down Sounds (2019, Kevin Gray, RTI, all-analog); The Final Comedown on Pure Pleasure (2004); Live at Club Mozambique on Third Man (2023, 2 LPs, mono); Mosaic's Complete Blue Note Recordings with Sonny Clark (5 LPs, out of print) |
| Album | Buy this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Idle Moments | Music Matters 33 rpm (or its SRX repress), or the Analogue Productions 45 | The strongest critical support of any Green reissue. Discogs users report repeated non-fill on the 2021 Classic Vinyl copy, and the 2026 Essentials LP is a digital cut. |
| Sunday Mornin' | Slow Down Sounds SDS 84099 (2019) | All-analog, Kevin Gray and RTI; reviewed warmly by Michael Fremer at AnalogPlanet. |
| Green Street | Music Matters 33 (2015, 3,500 copies) or Classic Vinyl (2023) | No Tone Poet edition has been issued. |
| Matador and Solid | Music Matters for Matador; Classic Vinyl (2025) or Music Matters for Solid | No 1960s original of either exists. Discogs users rate the Classic Vinyl Solid above the 1979 LT-990. |
| Born to Be Blue, Feelin' the Spirit, The Latin Bit, I Want to Hold Your Hand | Tone Poet | The only modern audiophile LP of each title on its own. Some Discogs users hear a tape flaw on I Want to Hold Your Hand that also shows up on digital versions, which points to the source tape. |
| Grant's First Stand | Blue Note 80 (2019) | The only modern audiophile-mastered LP of the title. |
| Talkin' About! | Music Matters 45 (2010) | The only audiophile edition. |
| Am I Blue, Goin' West, Carryin' On, Shades of Green, Live at the Lighthouse | A clean vintage copy | No audiophile vinyl reissue has been made of any of them. |
Which Records Are Worth Money
No dollar figures here, because prices move every week. Instead, four tiers for original pressings, with the evidence behind each placement.
| Tier | Records | The evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | Idle Moments, Green Street, Ike Quebec's Blue & Sentimental, Hank Mobley's Workout | On the Discogs page for the Idle Moments mono original, 1,658 users want it against 270 who own it (read September 11, 2026); Green Street's original shows 1,211 wants. Idle Moments had the highest top price of his leader albums in LondonJazzCollector's auction survey, whose author wrote that "each time I chased one the price went through the roof." Among his sideman titles, Blue & Sentimental had the highest average of those sold more than once, and Workout sold most often. |
| Mid-range | Grant's First Stand, Am I Blue, Feelin' the Spirit, Sunday Mornin', Talkin' About!, Grantstand, Larry Young's Into Somethin', Stanley Turrentine's Up at "Minton's" | Plastylite originals with steady demand: several hundred wants each on their Discogs original-release pages, but more copies in circulation and less competition than the top tier. |
| Undervalued | Street of Dreams, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Goin' West, The Latin Bit, Here 'Tis, Search for the New Land | Street of Dreams' true first is a Liberty that dealers mark down as a reissue, according to LondonJazzCollector. Goin' West shows nearly as many owners as wants on Discogs (362 to 402), and The Latin Bit's master page shows far more owners than wants. Here 'Tis and Search for the New Land brought the lowest prices of these titles in the auction survey, on one and two sales, even though Search for the New Land has AllMusic's 5 stars and its 1966 first pressings still came on New York labels with the ear. |
| No original | Matador, Solid, Born to Be Blue, Gooden's Corner, Nigeria, Oleo | First issued between 1979 and 1985, on Japanese King pressings and US LT or BST LPs. There is no 1960s copy to pay a premium for; buy the best reissue instead. |
Tier placement is Vinyl Standard's reading of the evidence, not a price guide. LondonJazzCollector's auction survey covers 2008 to 2013 and some titles rest on one or two sales; Discogs want and have counts change daily. Condition decides the price of any single copy more than its tier does.
All 34 Grant Green Reviews, by Era
Every leader album above is reviewed in full on one of three era pages, with personnel, album facts, track listings and Apple Music previews.
From the 1961 organ trio Grant's First Stand through Green Street, Idle Moments and the Larry Young organ dates, plus the one Verve album, His Majesty King Funk. Every session cut by Rudy Van Gelder at Englewood Cliffs.
Carryin' On opens the comeback, the live records Alive! and Live at the Lighthouse anchor the middle, and the late 1970s sessions close it out. These are the records hip hop producers sampled.
Eleven archival records, ten of them released after his death in 1979: Matador, Solid, the Sonny Clark quartets, Born to Be Blue, and the shelved live set Live at Club Mozambique.
Ten Grant Green records embedded as full-album videos: Idle Moments, Solid, Matador, Street of Dreams, Green Street, Alive!, Born to Be Blue, The Latin Bit, Talkin' About! and Grant's First Stand.
Open the Grant Green video page →More ways in: the Liner Notes piece on Idle Moments, every record Green plays on across the site, his circle on the Sideman Map, and every reviewed record on Blue Note.
Sources & Method
Session dates, personnel and catalog numbers follow jazzdisco.org's Grant Green discography, checked against the Discogs page for each original release and against Wikipedia. Release years follow jazzdisco and LondonJazzCollector's table of Blue Note release dates, which is built from Schwann catalogues; Wikipedia, citing Billboard, often gives a month or a year later, and the tables note it where the year differs. First-pressing details come from Discogs entries, several of which cite Fred Cohen's first-pressing guide, and from LondonJazzCollector. Reissue details come from Blue Note's own schedules, Music Matters, and the Discogs version lists. Critics' ratings are quoted from AllMusic, the Penguin Guide to Jazz and the Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide as reported on each album's Wikipedia page. Disagreements left open: AllMusic gives Green's birth year as 1935 and bluenote.com gives 1931; Wikipedia places Iron City! in Pittsburgh and jazzdisco in New York; and Wikipedia puts the 1961 Reaching Out session at Bell Sound while jazzdisco and the Black Lion notes say Nola's.
- Grant Green Discography at jazzdisco.org. Session-by-session dates, studios, personnel, takes and original catalog numbers, 1959 to 1978.
- The Blue Note Labels, The Deep Groove and Blue Notes Without the Plastylite Ear at LondonJazzCollector. Label addresses by catalog number, the Van Gelder stamp from mid-1962, deep groove behavior, and the 1966 move to All-Disc.
- Blue Note Session Dates, Release Dates, Mono and Stereo and Blue Note Auction Price Guide at LondonJazzCollector. Release months, and auction results for original copies from 2008 to 2013.
- Grant Green: Idle Moments and Grant Green: Street of Dreams at LondonJazzCollector. Demand for Idle Moments originals, and Street of Dreams first pressings priced as reissues.
- Idle Moments, Green Street, Grant's First Stand, Grantstand, Am I Blue and Street of Dreams master pages at Discogs. Original-release credits, runout details, every vinyl version, and want and have counts read September 11, 2026.
- Idle Moments, Grant's First Stand, Grantstand and Blue & Sentimental on Wikipedia. Critics' ratings, the Idle Moments retake account from Duke Pearson's notes, and track-level credits.
- Blue Note 80, Tone Poet 2021 to 2022, Tone Poet 2023 and Classic Vinyl 2026 schedules at bluenote.com. Release dates for the Blue Note reissue programs.
- Music Matters Jazz. The 45 and 33 rpm editions, mastering and pressing credits.
- Grant Green's Sunday Mornin': A Blue Note That Got Away by Michael Fremer at AnalogPlanet. The Slow Down Sounds reissue.
- Idle Moments, Blue Note Essential Vinyl Series at the Blue Note store. The September 25, 2026 release.