Live at Club Mozambique - 2023 US Third Man label 8-track 2LP

The funk fans have been waiting for this one. Finally available on vinyl for the first time, Grant Green’s near perfect slice of jazz funk and soul, Live at Club Mozambique, remastered and rendered back in the Motor City. Green’s band had been playing a series of live dates at Detroit’s Club Mozambique (before it became a fabled Male dance club), when this session was recorded live on two cold January nights in 1971. Powerhouse drummer Idris Muhammad and soulful tenor star Houston Person were brought in to supplement Green’s current band featuring Ronnie Foster on organ and Clarence Thomas on soprano and tenor saxophone. This treasure remained in the Blue Note vaults for 35 years before a 2006 CD release. Sounding incredibly fresh, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more real stamping of Grant Green at the top of his game. Hypnotic and wild funk, such as their cover of local hit “Jan Jan” by the Fabulous Counts, contrasts with laidback renditions of early 70’s soul favorites “Walk on By,” “Patches,” and “One More Chance” by the Jackson 5. It captures the magic of hearing a fantastic band effortlessly doing their thing in a small club while the audience unwinds after a long workday. Green pulls it all together with his melodic genius and perfect delivery. No pretensions, just Green and company burning up the stage with unmistakable chemistry on what might be the ultimate jazz funk time capsule. Close your eyes and you might be convinced you’re sitting in a wood-paneled club on Detroit’s Westside.

313 Series

Detroit has long held a shared respect with New York; a similar outlook on authenticity. Tough to describe, but you know it when you see it. Third Man Records and Blue Note Records share this respect and also a commitment to integrity regarding the musical legacies they support that extends to the collaboration happening on the 313 Series partnership. The five unique albums from the Blue Note catalog chosen for limited edition re-release by Blue Note Records President and Detroiter Don Was represent the best of the Motor City; innovative sounds, incredible playing and that inexplicable something you know is real.

For an undertaking like this you have to walk the extra mile. The original tapes were sent to Third Man’s Detroit mastering and pressing facility where their extensive all analog re-mastering process ensured that the albums delivered live up to the tradition they are part of. The Third Man Records team’s commitment to audio purity means no corners can be cut; sound and mastering engineer Warren Defever’s goal being to provide the closest possible approximation of the magic found on the original master's tape brought to your living room. From the lacquers cut in the studio on the Neumann VMS-70 Cutting Lathe to the 180 gram vinyl pressed across the hall, every step of the process is tested in the facilities against exacting standards. That’s the Detroit way and the reason why the musical legacy from the 313 area code remains beloved around the world.

Tracklisting:

Side 1
1: Jan Jan
2: Farid

Side 2
1: Bottom Of The Barrel
2: Walk On By

Side 3
1: More Today Than Yesterday
2: One More Chance

Side 4
1: Patches
2: I Am Somebody