Idle Moments (album)

Idle Moments is a 1964 jazz album by guitarist Grant Green. Released on Blue Note, it features performances by Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Blue Note in-house producer Duke Pearson on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Al Harewood on drums.

The album is best known for the title piece, a slow blues composition which lasts for nearly 15 minutes. Pearson, who wrote the song, explains in his liner notes to the album that the tune was meant to be much shorter. Due to the musicians repeating the main melody twice, however, there was some confusion as to whether or not one chorus would consist of 16 or 32 measures. Producer Alfred Lion was satisfied with the take, although he suggested that they do a retake to fit the song into a seven minute limit. However, the song had a special feeling to it which no subsequent take could recapture, so it was decided to release the first take on the album. Two other songs, "Jean De Fleur" and "Django," were re-recorded in shorter renditions to compensate for the length of the title track; the extended renditions of both songs can be heard on the 1998 RVG remaster of the album.

Track listing

 * 1) "Idle Moments" (Pearson) – 14:56
 * 2) "Jean De Fleur" (Green) – 6:49
 * 3) "Django" (John Lewis) – 8:44
 * 4) "Nomad" (Pearson) – 12:16

Bonus tracks on CD reissue:
 * 1) "Jean De Fleur" [Alternate Take] - 8:09
 * 2) "Django" [Alternate Take] - 13:12

Recorded on November 4 (#1, 4-6)and November 15 (#2-3), 1963.

Personnel

 * Grant Green - guitar
 * Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone
 * Duke Pearson - piano
 * Bobby Hutcherson - vibraphone
 * Bob Cranshaw - double bass
 * Al Harewood - drums