The biggest obstacle confronting jazz guitarists has invariably been creating an instantly recognisable signature sound. In far too many instances the electrics got in the way. In the late 1950s, Wes Montgomery was the big problem with his jaw-dropping use of double-stop octaves and big fat chords prompting a generation of young pretenders to quickly reconsider their position. Not so Grant Green who headed in the opposite direction. Influenced as much by saxophone maestros Charlie Parker and Lester Young as he was by Charlie Christian, he eschewed chords in favour of straight down the middle bluesy sweet-and-sour single string improvisations which immediately had him snapped up by Blue Note, tagged and put to work. With a current spate of reissues that match him with Brother Jack McDuff and Ike Quebec plus many of his own albums for Blue Note currently back on stream, Grant Green is again becoming the focus of serious attention. As with a number of sessions he taped for Blue Note, it was 19 years after the event that this was first issued posthumously in 1980. Though usually heard in the context of an organ combo or with the likes of Lou Donaldson, this is Green stripped bare with just unobtrusive bass and drums in support as he glides effortlessly through a selection of familiar standards that embrace ‘All The Things You Are’, ‘Love Walked In’, ‘I'll Remember April’ etc. With no box of tricks, foot pedals or a mountain range of Marshall stacks in earshot, this is Grant Green au naturel. Enjoy at your leisure.