''Idle Moments'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Grant Green recorded in 1963 and released on the Blue Note label in 1965.''Billboard'' Mar 6, 1965
/ref> It features performances by tenor saxophonist

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

, vibraphonist

Bobby Hutcherson Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note album '' Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bob ...

, pianist

Duke Pearson Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. ''Allmusic'' describes him as having a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record produ ...

, bassist

Bob Cranshaw Melbourne Robert Cranshaw (December 3, 1932 – November 2, 2016) was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records to his recent involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long associa ...

and drummer

Al Harewood Al Harewood (June 3, 1923 – March 13, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and teacher, born in Brooklyn. As a musician Harewood worked with many jazz musicians including the J.J. Johnson/ Kai Winding group, the Art Farmer/ Gigi Grice band, Davi ...

Recording and music

The album is best known for the title piece, a slow composition in C minor which lasts for nearly 15 minutes. Pearson, who wrote the song, explains in his

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

to the album that the tune was meant to be much shorter. Due to the musicians repeating the main melody twice, however, there was some confusion as to whether or not one

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

would consist of 16 or 32 bars. Producer

Alfred Lion Alfred Lion (born Alfred Löw; April 21, 1908 – February 2, 1987), was an American record executive who co-founded the jazz record label Blue Note in 1939. Lion retired in 1967, having sold the company, after producing recordings by leading music ...

was satisfied with the take, although he suggested that they do a retake to fit the song into a seven-minute limit. However, the song had a special feeling to it which no subsequent take could recapture, so it was decided to release the first take on the album. Two other songs, "Jean De Fleur" and " Django", were re-recorded in shorter renditions to compensate for the length of the title track; the extended renditions of both songs can be heard on the CD re-issues of the album.

Reception

Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

states that Green treats the repertoire of this album "with the graceful elegance that was the hallmark of his best hard bop sessions, and that quality achieves its fullest expression here... ''Idle Moments'' is the essential first Green purchase, and some of the finest guitar jazz of the hard bop era." The album was identified by jazz historian and journalist

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

in his essay "What is Hard Bop?" as one of the "17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings".

Track listing

#"Idle Moments" (Pearson) – 14:56 #"Jean De Fleur" (Green) – 6:49 #" Django" ( John Lewis) – 8:44 #"Nomad" (Pearson) – 12:16 Bonus tracks on CD reissue in 1990: #

"Jean De Fleur" lternate Take- 8:09 #"Django" lternate Take- 13:12 ''Recorded on November 4 (#1, 4-6) and November 15 (#2-3), 1963.''

Personnel

* Grant Green –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

–

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1965 albums Grant Green albums Blue Note Records albums Albums produced by Alfred Lion Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio