Grant Green – The Latin Bit: Blue Note Tone Poet Series (180g Vinyl LP)

All-Analog 180g Vinyl LP of Grant Green’s The Latin Bit Mastered from the Original Master Tapes by Kevin Gray & Pressed at RTI: Reference-Caliber Blue Note Reissue Helmed by Music Matters’ Joe Harley

Grant Green had already recorded a prolific 10 sessions of classic hard bop and soul jazz for Blue Note over a 2-year span by the time he arrived at Van Gelder Studio in 1962 to record his album The Latin Bit. The concept of the album was a departure for Green with the guitarist exploring Latin and Brazilian influences with a band featuring Johnny Acea on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, Willie Bobo on drums, Carlos “Patato” Valdes on conga, and Garvin Masseaux on chekere. As Nat Hentoff wrote in the album’s liner notes: “It is because of Green’s remarkably consistent ease in many varieties of material, that this album of jazz with a Latin tinge becomes so seamless a blending of Latin idioms and blues-laced, modern mainstream swinging.” The highly enjoyable set includes joyful takes of “Mambo Inn” and “My Little Suede Shoes,” as well as a lyrical and beguiling version of “Besame Mucho.”

Musicians:
Grant Green, guitar
Johnny Acea, piano
Wendell Marshall, bass
Willie Bobo, drums
Potato Valdez, congas
Garvin Masseaux, chekere

1. Mambo Inn
2. Besame Mucho
3. Mama Inez
4. Brazil
5. Tico Tico
6. My Little Suede Shoes

Features:
• Blue Note Tone Poet Series
• Curated by Music Matters co-founder Joe Harley
• Audiophile-quality 180g vinyl LP
• All-analog mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray
• Manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated
• Deluxe gatefold jacket packaging