Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Sideman Sessions 1963-64

Like Bobby Hutcherson's The Kicker, Grant Green's Solid inexplicably languished on a shelf for fifteen years until 1979. Poor Joe Henderson — as on the Hutcherson session, this album also had a sweet version of the tenor's classic "The Kicker." Besides "The Kicker," the album's loaded with great songs, including Duke Pearson's (anything but) "Minor League," the guitarist's original "Grant's Tune," Sonny Rollins' title-track, and our favorite cut, a burning modal version of George Russell's "Ezz-Thetic." Grant was at the peak of his guitar powers, but has a smoking band to inspire him to new heights with Henderson and James Spaulding on saxes, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and 2/3 of Coltrane's rhythm section in pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones (just months before recording A Love Supreme).

"Ezz-Thetic" by Grant Green (1964)