lloydscott:

Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Sideman Sessions 1963-64

In a week devoted to Joe Henderson, Bluely Noted finds another way to express our undying love for Grant Green’s Idle Moments. One of our first posts ever was on the guitarist and this hypnotic masterpiece. Henderson’s husky voiced solo comes late — wait for it — finally entering at 7:44, but lasts until 11:00, when he hands it over to vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. Two of the album’s other tunes, “Jean de Fleur” and “Django,” had to be re-recorded in slightly abbreviated versions just to compensate for this title-track’s dreamy fifteen minutes (of course, the alternate versions are available digitally).

Pianist Duke Pearson is another artist who doesn’t get enough respect. Besides composing “Idle Moments,” he was a fantastic arranger (check out Donald Byrd’s “Cristo Redentor”), worked on numerous Blue Note sessions during the sixties, and even became an A&R man for the label. Sadly, his career was cut short after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the seventies and he passed away in 1980.

“Idle Moments” by Grant Green (1963)