he knew what to say and when to say it

Saxophonist Eli Fontaine is one of several musicians in this documentary who help us learn more about the special qualities of Grant Green's skills as a guitarist. A lot of what he and others had to say concerned Grant's phrasing. In other words, many agreed that Grant knew when to play, not just how to play.

I think this idea has resonance with Fontaine himself.  Listen to him on the film's trailer . While editing the film, I was struck again by how Fontaine has such a lovely speaking voice. Every word he said  was worth waiting for.  His horn-playing was something else, but so was the way he painted a picture by simply speaking.

What a human being. Session musicians like him in and outside of Detroit are worthy of their own documentaries. I am grateful for the time he shared with us twenty years ago.
Now, many of us "know" Fontaine because of his solo at the beginning of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On."  In this documentary on Grant Green, Fontaine talks briefly about his days of being on the road with Gaye.

One aside: The video posted here is one I show in two of my classes addressing urban history in America. The video presents Gaye's "What Going On" and "What's Happening Brother" under a videoscape of black Chicago, circa 1970s. That urban decay that became synonymous with black life in America is also visible in the documentary. It's never in your face, but I wanted to be sure that the viewer understood that this part of American history has a soundtrack that includes Grant Green's music - his Blue Note moments, but also that critical shift he made in the late 1960s to his death when he and other jazz  musicians, and this country, were trying to find their way through a lot of change. Some of them did better than others, a point this project emphasizes.