Grant Green – Live at Club Mozambique: Third Man 313 Series (Ltd Edn Green Vinyl 2LP)

Third Man / Blue Note Records 313 Series Reissue of Grant Green’s Live at Club Mozambique on 180g 2LP. All-Analog Remaster from the Original Master Tapes. Lacquers Cut in the Studio on a Neumann VMS-70 Cutting Lathe.

The funk fans have been waiting for this one. Finally available on vinyl for the first time, Grant Green’s near perfect slice of jazz funk and soul, Live at Club Mozambique, remastered and rendered back in the Motor City. Green’s band had been playing a series of live dates at Detroit’s Club Mozambique (before it became a fabled Male dance club), when this session was recorded live on two cold January nights in 1971. Powerhouse drummer Idris Muhammad and soulful tenor star Houston Person were brought in to supplement Green’s current band featuring Ronnie Foster on organ and Clarence Thomas on soprano and tenor saxophone. This treasure remained in the Blue Note vaults for 35 years before a 2006 CD release. Sounding incredibly fresh, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more real stamping of Grant Green at the top of his game. Hypnotic and wild funk, such as their cover of local hit “Jan Jan” by the Fabulous Counts, contrasts with laidback renditions of early 70’s soul favorites “Walk on By,” “Patches,” and “One More Chance” by the Jackson 5. It captures the magic of hearing a fantastic band effortlessly doing their thing in a small club while the audience unwinds after a long workday. Green pulls it all together with his melodic genius and perfect delivery. No pretensions, just Green and company burning up the stage with unmistakable chemistry on what might be the ultimate jazz funk time capsule. Close your eyes and you might be convinced you’re sitting in a wood-paneled club on Detroit’s Westside.

For an undertaking like this you have to walk the extra mile. The original tapes were sent to Third Man’s Detroit mastering and pressing facility where their extensive all analog re-mastering process ensured that the albums delivered live up to the tradition they are part of. The Third Man Records team’s commitment to audio purity means no corners can be cut; sound and mastering engineer Warren Defever’s goal being to provide the closest possible approximation of the magic found on the original master’s tape brought to your living room. From the lacquers cut in the studio on the Neumann VMS-70 Cutting Lathe to the 180 gram vinyl pressed across the hall, every step of the process is tested in the facilities against exacting standards. That’s the Detroit way and the reason why the musical legacy from the 313 area code remains beloved around the world.

Grant Green – Guitar

Ronnie Foster – Organ

Idris Muhammad – Drums

Clarence Thomas – Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax

Houston Person – Tenor Sax

Recorded live at Club Mozambique – Detroit, MI 1971 by Francis Wolff

A1: Jan Jan
A2: Farid
B1: Bottom Of The Barrel
B2: Walk On By
C1: More Today Than Yesterday
C2: One More Chance
D1: Patches
D2: I Am Somebody