Sookie, Sookie

Recorded on April 2, 1970 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, the session featured Grant Green on guitar alongside Claude Bartee on tenor saxophone, Emanuel Riggins on organ, Joseph Armstrong on drums, and Idris Muhammad on additional percussion, with the ensemble pursuing an accessible soul-jazz and funk direction. Released on Blue Note Records as part of the album 'Alive!', the track demonstrated Green's embrace of contemporary funk and soul-jazz crossover sounds at a moment when Blue Note was actively repositioning its artists toward the Black popular music market. The track has been sampled by hip-hop producers drawn to Green's stinging guitar tone and the session's deep funk groove, and 'Alive!' is now regarded as one of the essential soul-jazz guitar records of the early 1970s, cementing Green's influence on the genre.