Green Gets Funky, For Good
Carryin' On is where Grant Green stopped looking back and committed fully to the groove.
By 1969, Grant Green had been away from Blue Note for a few years, and when he came back it wasn't to pick up where he'd left off with the hard bop and soul jazz of his early sixties recordings. He came back playing funk. Carryin' On is the record that marks that shift clearly — rhythm-forward, organ-heavy, built around grooves that lock in and stay there. If you've spent time with his earlier Blue Note work and come to this expecting that same lean, single-note precision in a post-bop context, you'll notice immediately that the priorities have changed. The tempos are steadier, the arrangements are more about feel than flash, and Green's guitar is sitting inside the groove rather than on top of it. That's not a complaint — it's just what the album is.
The performances have that slightly loose, after-hours quality that suits the material well. Green's tone is warm and unhurried, and he sounds genuinely comfortable in this style, not like a musician reluctantly following trends. The funk and soul influences running through the record feel natural to how he plays — his lines are still clean, still swinging in their own way, just aimed at the body a bit more than the head. This was the direction he would stick with for the rest of his career, and Carryin' On works as a clear statement of where he was headed.
It's not his most ambitious record, and listeners who want the intricate interplay of his early sessions may find it a little straightforward. But as a groove record it does its job honestly, and Green sounds fully committed to it. Worth your time if you like the jazz-funk pocket and want to hear a genuinely skilled guitarist working comfortably inside it.
Who's playing
Jimmy Lewisbass
Clarence Palmerelectric piano
Neal Crequeelectric piano
Grant Greenguitar
Claude Bartee, Jr.tenor saxophone
Idris Muhammaddrums
Willie Bivensvibraphone
Where next?
More by Grant Green
All 38 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
