Green, Grant: The Latin Bit (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) LP

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."

Blue Note Records' acclaimed Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series continues in 2022. Launched in 2019 in honor of the label's 80th Anniversary, the Tone Poet series is produced by Joe Harley (from Music Matters) and features all-analog, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues that are mastered from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio. Tone Poet vinyl is manufactured at RTI in Camarillo, CA, and packaged in deluxe Stoughton Printing "Old Style" gatefold Tip-On jackets. The titles were once again handpicked by Harley and cover the crème de la crème of the Blue Note catalog along with underrated classics, modern era standouts, and albums from other labels under the Blue Note umbrella including Pacific Jazz and United Artists Records. Every aspect of these Blue Note/Tone Poet releases is done to the highest-possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version.