Johnny Griffin: The Best Of Johnny Griffin

An explosive soloist indeed reputed for his incendiary chops and hearty tone, many often overlook the fact that the Chicago, Illinois expatriate earned the latter part of his sobriquet from those same toughened tenorists with whom he locked horns in his younger years. Needless to say one does not earn such accolade from being a mere flash in the pan.

To commemorate his passing on July 25, 2008, Concord Records has released The Best Of Johnny Griffin, a collection of 12 remastered tracks compiled by expert Nick Phillips that comes augmented by author Ashley Khan's informative, 4-page liner notes.

Covering 20 years from his stellar Riverside quartet recordings with pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Philly Joe Jones to his 1978 return to the West Coast caught on tape by Saul Zaentz's Galaxy label—by way of his noted stint with pianist Thelonious Monk's Quartet, guitarist Wes Montgomery's Full House (Riverside, 1962) and hard-swinging duels with fellow toughie Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis—the important road marks of Griffin's American career are all duly represented. As a bonus, there's some rather head-spinning soloing during Griffin and Davis' fierce blowing matches on "Tickle Toe" and "Straight, No Chaser," the latter featuring heated, head-cutting-contest tirades and trades between the two giants.

A welcome addition in both Concord and Griffin's respective discographies, The Best Of Johnny Griffin shall certainly not disappoint those who relish the thought of being blown away by some winged, fire-breathing dragon flexing his chops and loving every minute of the Sirocco-like storm it wreaks.