Results for "Johnny Griffin"

Johnny Griffin

Born: April 24, 1928

Since Johnny Griffin's precocious professional debut with Lionel Hampton in 1945, his best work has been guided by spontaneity. One of the fastest and least inhibited of tenor men, Griffin loves the challenges and excitement of the jam session. Back in 1963, despite the solid reputation he had established as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Thelonious Monk’s group (and as co-leader of a band with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis), Griffin felt forced to flee to Europe. During the Sixties, Griffin was one of an elite corps of resident American jazzmen in Europe, a group that included Kenny Clarke, Arthur Taylor, Horace Parlan, Kenny Drew, and, of course, Dexter Gordon (“Dexter’s family to me,” he smiles)

The NDR Hamburg Studio Recordings

Label: Jazzline Classics
Released: 2021
Track listing: West Coast Blues; Four On Six; Last Of The Wine; Here’s That Rainy Day; Opening 2; Blue Grass; Blue Monk; The Leopard Walks; Twisted Blues; West Coast Blues (Encore).

Roy Hargrove and Mulgrew Miller: In Harmony

by Troy Dostert
July 12, 2021

While the good folks at Resonance have labored mightily to unearth hidden gems from some of the undisputed legends of jazz--Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Wes Montgomery and Sonny Rollins are just a handful worthy of note--more recent figures have been largely absent from their roster. But this excellent live document bucks the trend, recorded ...

Andre Ferreri Quintetto: Numero Uno

by Jack Bowers
June 29, 2021

On Numero Uno, guitarist Andre Ferreri leads a tight-knit quintet, four of whose members appear on every number with alternating pianists—Sean Higgins, Phillip Howe, Mark Stallings (Hammond B3 on the breezy “Uptown Swing")--and one trumpeter (Brad Wilcox) who makes it a sextet on “Avia Pervia." Tenor saxophonist Ziad Rabie shares the front line while bassist Anna ...

Jazz vs. Classical Funding

by Nicholas Krolak
June 9, 2021

Throughout jazz history there has been a desire among the jazz community to see the music respected on the same level as western classical music. It is after all, jazz is America's classical music. As Dr. Billy Taylor explains, “Classical music must be time-tested; it must serve as a standard or model; it must have established ...

Franco Ambrosetti: Busy Businessman, Exquisite Artist

by R.J. DeLuke
March 16, 2021

Franco Ambrosetti, a horn player from Switzerland, has a unique perspective on music and art. Because his vantage point is different than many musicians, having held the position as CEO of a significant company in Europe. He plays trumpet and flugelhorn with a rich tone and an approach that has matured over time, shifting from a ...

Wes Montgomery: The NDR Hamburg Studio Recordings

by Chris May
March 5, 2021

Recorded in spring 1965, during Wes Montgomery's sole European tour, The NDR Hamburg Studio Recordings presents the guitarist as part of an all-star international octet assembled for a one-off appearance on German television station NDR. The programme was part of a series presenting musicians who did not regularly work together in informal “rehearsal" performances. Montgomery's tour, ...

Dave Liebman: Placing Free Jazz and the Avant Garde in Musical and Historical Perspective

by Victor L. Schermer
February 22, 2021

Like free jazz, this interview arose spontaneously from an informal “how are you doin'" telephone conversation between saxophonist Dave Liebman and All About Jazz contributor Vic Schermer. Schermer phoned Liebman to compliment him on his new e-book The Art of Skill: Establishing the Mindset for Unleashing the Music Inside You published by Michael Lake, and how ...

Billy Childs: L.A. Contentment

by R.J. DeLuke
December 15, 2020

Billy Childs says taking formal piano lessons as a young child “didn't register" at the time. He didn't recoil from the instrument by any means, but it wasn't yet exciting. But he had a neighbor who also played. Childs looked up to him. It was that neighbor who showed him stuff--taught him to play “ Cantaloupe ...

Judith & Dave O'Higgins: His 'n' Hers

by Chris May
October 9, 2020

Here is a great idea for a tough tenors face-off in the tradition of the Johnny Griffin / Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis group... Get hold of a tenor duo comprising a husband and wife who are on the verge of divorce and can barely stand being in the same room together and record them as they try ...