Jazz Articles about Johnny Griffin

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Johnny Griffin: Johnny Griffin

by David Rickert
September 15, 2004

Johnny Griffin was a bop-influenced player who was capable of handling the rigors of both Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and a stint with Thelonious Monk. Often given credit as the world's fastest tenor player (at least for a time), Griffin enjoyed a good tenor battle as much as the next guy, but he also could deliver a solid quartet album such as this one.1956's Johnny Griffin is pretty typical mid-fifties fare: a few standards, a couple of originals, ...

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Johnny Griffin & Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Quintet: Tough Tenors

by David Rickert
November 1, 2003

The appeal of a good cutting session is similar to that of a good boxing match: we all enjoy watching two competitors locked in combat, pushing themselves to new boundaries and discovering untapped resources. Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis went so far as to establish a quintet which allowed them repeated opportunities to duke it out over a series of recording sessions and club dates.

1960's Tough Tenors is their first meeting on record, and – ...

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Johnny Griffin: And the Great Danes

by Derek Taylor
February 25, 2003

For the better part of four decades, Northern Europe has been something of a second home to Johnny Griffin. Following the lead of his peers, the saxophonist immigrated to Paris in the early '60s and later moved to the Netherlands in the early '70s. The life of the expatriate jazz musician has been his preferred lot ever since. For these reasons and for the simple love of the music, this pairing with a Danish quartet makes perfect sense. Griff is ...

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Johnny Griffin, Steve Grossman: Johnny Griffin & Steve Grossman Quintet

by AAJ Staff
April 1, 2001

Even though Johnny Griffin has steadfastly chosen to remain in Europe since 1963, his recorded output remains steady and, as always, invigorating, thanks to Dreyfus Jazz. Fast on the heels of Griffin's Grammy-nominated collaboration with piano great Martial Solal, Griffin once again is paired with an interesting counterpart, this time fellow tenor saxman Steve Grossman. Even though he grew up and was educated in the United States, Grossman now is resident of Europe as well.Last year, Griffin journeyed ...

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Johnny Griffin/Steve Grossman: Griffin & Grossman Quintet

by Mark Corroto
April 1, 2001

The welcome return of the fire-breathing bebop tenor saxophonist is well, music to my ears. Ex-patriot saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Steve Grossman team up for an old fashioned blowing session. This date recorded for the French label, Dreyfus Records, calls to mind Griffin’s legendary recording date A Blowing Session with John Coltrane and Hank Mobley in 1957. Recorded in the days when musicians arrived in town looking for an after-hours cutting contest to prove themselves and develop their skills. Griffin, ...

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Johnny Griffin & Martial Solal: In & Out

by AAJ Staff
July 1, 2000

One would think from a provincial American perspective that Johnny Griffin and Martial Solal would have performed together numerous times, let alone having recorded frequently. After all, they're European, aren't they?Alas, such is not the case. Griffin and Solal have performed together only two or three times. They have recorded together never. Until now. That's what makes “In & Out" an instantly classic recording, and one of the more masterfully performed of the year, no doubt.Exhibiting ...

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Johnny Griffin: Setting the Pace

by Derek Taylor
January 1, 2000

Most follwers of Griffin’s robust tenor sound don’t regard the man who was widely regarded at various times as the ‘Little Giant,” “The Cat” and “the fastest tenor on the scene” as a boundary stretching modernist. He did serve a memorable stint in Monk’s quartet, delivering an angular urgency that complimented the pianist’s idiosyncratic style, but few would include him among the numbers of saxophonists who have flirted with the experimental fringes of jazz.

This Riverside reissue presents a persuasive ...