Blues and Other Shades of Green casts
Urbie Green in a rare small-group setting, assembling a stellar quintet including guitarist
Jimmy Raney, bassist
Percy Heath, pianist
Dave McKenna, and drummer
Kenny Clarke for a crisp, coolly efficient session that leaves just enough wiggle room to allow all of the individual contributors their moment in the spotlight.
Green wields both the slide and the valve trombone here, and the simplicity of the arrangements affords his lovely, direct tone the perfect platform to shine. As its title suggests, much of
Blues and Other Shades of Green boasts a melancholy atmosphere, and
Green is unusually expressive in capturing the emotions that haunt material like "Reminiscent Blues" and "It's Too Late Now." Long out of print, it was finally reissued in 2007 on a two-fer CD alongside its 1956 follow-up
All About Urbie Green.