Resonance's
Slick! Live at Oil Can Harry's presents recordings made on September 5, 1975 at the Vancouver, British Columbia club Oil Can Harry's.
Grant Green spent much of his final years on the road, but after he left
Blue Note in 1974 he wasn't recorded much: just two other records, both studio sessions.
Slick! represents his latest-known live recording, and it undercuts the conventional wisdom that the guitarist frittered away his final years. Supported by
Ronnie Ware on bass,
Emmanuel Riggins on electric piano, drummer
Greg Williams, and percussionist
Gerald Izzard,
Green is thoroughly within his jazz-funk groove, as he bends
Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time" to fit his new style. "Now's the Time" finds a counterpart in a lovely, relaxed version of
Antonio Carlos Jobim's "How Insensitive," which rides its mellow rhythms for upwards of 30 minutes. Still, the centerpiece -- and perhaps the best indication of how
Green worked in the latter stages of his career -- is a half-hour medley blending
Stanley Clarke's "Vulcan Princess,"
the Ohio Players' "Skin Tight,"
Bobby Womack's "Woman's Gotta Have It,"
Stevie Wonder's "Boogie on Reggae Woman," and
the O'Jays' "For the Love of Money." Here, there are no borders between jazz, R&B, bop, and funk, and it not only cooks, but the solos by
Green and
Riggins are dexterous and surprising, lending
Slick! real substance in addition to being a funky good time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
