Green, Grant: Grant's First Stand (Blue Note 80) LP

In honor of Blue Note Records' 80th Anniversary, the legendary jazz label is launching the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. Distinct from the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, this second series curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features 180g vinyl LP releases in standard packaging with albums spanning the many eras of the label's history presented by themes: Blue Note Debuts, Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Blue Note Drummer Leaders. The series resumes in June 2019 with the reissue of three more remarkable Blue Note debuts – Johnny Griffin Introducing Johnny Griffin, Freddie Hubbard Open Sesame, and Grant Green Grant's First Stand – and will continue with three albums released each month for the coming year.

Grant Green came from the Charlie Christian school of jazz guitar, approaching the instrument as if it was a horn and preferring to play single-note melodic lines rather than chords. His sound was clean and uncluttered, and, on his 1961 Blue Note debut as leader, Grant's First Stand, producer Alfred Lion placed him in an organ trio context, knowing that it would allow the guitarist space to express himself and shine. The organist was Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette, a church-raised gospel-influenced musician who brought a sanctified soulfulness to the session. Completing the trio was Ben Dixon, a drummer from South Carolina. Not only was it the album on which the wider world first got to hear his unique approach to the guitar, but it also functioned as highly personal musical manifesto that became Green's stylistic blueprint during his first – and arguably most satisfying – stint at Blue Note.

This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.