Johnny Griffin, Jazzman Who Played With Coltrane, Monk, Dies
By Mark Schoifet
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Johnny Griffin, the jazz musician who was once billed as the “world's fastest saxophonist" and played alongside Thelonious Monk, Lionel Hampton and John Coltrane, has died. He was 80.
Griffin died today at his home in the village of Mauprevior, in southwest France, said his agent, Helene Manfredi. The cause wasn't disclosed. He had been scheduled to perform tonight.
Nicknamed the “Little Giant," Griffin is perhaps best remembered for the 1957 Blue Note album he recorded with fellow tenor players Coltrane and Hank Mobley, “A Blowin' Session.
His style remained unchanged during a 50-year career: aggressive, bop-oriented playing with solos blown at blistering speed. Griffin is “a member of jazz's elite," said Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, which hosted Griffin's 80th birthday celebration this year.
“He is well known for playing fast, his burning solos and furiously nimble runs anchored by an amazingly well-informed and complete grasp of melody and harmony, marking him out as one of the greatest tenor sax players ever to have played,” Ronnie Scott's wrote on its Web site.
Griffin was born on April 24, 1928, in Chicago. After studying music in high school, he joined Hampton's orchestra in 1945 and jammed regularly with pianists Monk and Bud Powell. He served in the Army from 1951-1953, moving to New York in 1956.
He played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1957 and “proved to be perfect with the Thelonious Monk quartet in 1958, where he really ripped through the complex chord changes with ease," the All Music Guide said.
In the early 1960s, Griffin co-led the “tough tenor" group with Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis before moving to France. He lived in the Netherlands in the 1970s before returning to France, where he continued to record and perform until his death.
By Mark Schoifet
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Johnny Griffin, the jazz musician who was once billed as the “world's fastest saxophonist" and played alongside Thelonious Monk, Lionel Hampton and John Coltrane, has died. He was 80.
Griffin died today at his home in the village of Mauprevior, in southwest France, said his agent, Helene Manfredi. The cause wasn't disclosed. He had been scheduled to perform tonight.
Nicknamed the “Little Giant," Griffin is perhaps best remembered for the 1957 Blue Note album he recorded with fellow tenor players Coltrane and Hank Mobley, “A Blowin' Session.
His style remained unchanged during a 50-year career: aggressive, bop-oriented playing with solos blown at blistering speed. Griffin is “a member of jazz's elite," said Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, which hosted Griffin's 80th birthday celebration this year.
“He is well known for playing fast, his burning solos and furiously nimble runs anchored by an amazingly well-informed and complete grasp of melody and harmony, marking him out as one of the greatest tenor sax players ever to have played,” Ronnie Scott's wrote on its Web site.
Griffin was born on April 24, 1928, in Chicago. After studying music in high school, he joined Hampton's orchestra in 1945 and jammed regularly with pianists Monk and Bud Powell. He served in the Army from 1951-1953, moving to New York in 1956.
He played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1957 and “proved to be perfect with the Thelonious Monk quartet in 1958, where he really ripped through the complex chord changes with ease," the All Music Guide said.
In the early 1960s, Griffin co-led the “tough tenor" group with Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis before moving to France. He lived in the Netherlands in the 1970s before returning to France, where he continued to record and perform until his death.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
