Johnny Griffin: I Want to Explode!

Johnny Griffin-Arthur Taylor Quartet

Classiques du Jazz, 1971, ORTF

Johnny Griffin (ts)/René Urtreger (p)/Alby Cullaz (b)/Arthur Taylor (d)

set list: Now's the Time, My Little Suede Shoes, Blue Monk, Blues for Harvey

"A nervous person when I'm playing. I like to play fast. I get excited, and I have to sort of control myself, restrain myself. But when the rhythm section gets cooking, I want to explode." - Johnny Griffin

"Griffin is an energetic player, but the forcefulness with which he plays seems to be somewhat inhibited by the pinched quality of his tone. His basic sound is more that of an alto than a tenor sax. He creates the illusion of a bigger sound with hardness, giving the impression that he's driving a column of air through a small opening with such violence that it shatters. I like his imagination, courage, and his feeling for keeping the time swinging." - Bill Crow, Jazz Review, August 1959

Johnny Griffin Quartet

Le città del Jazz: New York, 1970, Roma

Johnny Griffin (ts)/Kenny Drew (p)/Jimmy Woode (b)/Kenny Clark (d)
When We Were One