Matador

Matador (1964) Grant Green. Customer review - Some might say that it takes guts to use Coltrane's rhythm section from My Favorite Things and go into the studio to do that song as the centerpiece of an album, but Grant Green was a musician to pull it off-with spades. Maybe it's just that I spent so many hours of my wasted youth in listening to Coltrane, but I find Green's rendition of the song as interesting as Coltrane's. And there are some tracks that surpass that even. Matador showcases Green as among the most inventive and skillful improvisers of his generation. The title song is a catchy melody replete with improvisational possibilities, and Green exploits them to the fullest. This was a guitar player who could turn a song inside out and discover the possibilities of a simple structure. On the popular front he was eclipsed by Wes Montgomery and George Benson, but his skills are more on the level of Jim Hall. Tyner's solo on the title track is an excellent example of his improvisational technique at it's best. Matador is a fine recording, and to my hearing Green's version of My Favorite Things is equal to Coltrane's. The rhythm section sounds familiar, but Grant Green's guitar has a linear fullness that washes Coltrane's soprano saxophone from my ear.