Jazz Articles about Phil Woods

The Jesse Green Trio: Sylvan Treasure

by C. Michael Bailey
October 23, 2002

A trio of saxophonists...

Wunderkind pianist, 29 year-old Jesse Green enlists the services of three saxophone heavyweights for his new recording, Sylvan Treasure. David Liebman, Chris Potter, and Phil Woods join brassman Patrick Dorian and the Jesse Green trio for a rollicking roll through Be Bop ("Extreme Sporting"), Post-Coltrane free bop ("Hesplopia"), and probing post bop ("Sylvan Treasure"). Green’s trio is crisp and polite and fancies order execution over the “Let Freedom Ring" principle. Green uses his sidemen in a ...

Phil Woods featuring Johnny Griffin: The Rev And I

by Douglas Payne
December 1, 1998

Here's an object lesson in compatible, rather than competitive, blowing. For The Rev and I, Phil Woods (b.1931) stacks his distinctive, sweet-toned alto against Johnny Griffin's (b. 1928) recognizable, growling tenor. Even though these two have previously played together in Quincy Jones 1959-61 big band, Thelonius Monk's 1967 nonet and on 1984's Ole Dude and the Fundance Kid (uptown), they're a heady pair that listens closely to one another and work quite well together. Teamed with the always ...