Ad-Lib#5: Two Faces of Johnny Griffin

© photograph: Yukio Ichikawa

The line-up on some of the old 78 rpm records are truly amazing. For instance, teaming up Johnny Griffin, Elmo Hope, Percy Heath and Philly Joe Jones on one single record may sound like a fantasy modern group, but in reality it happened in the late 1940s, though the encounter is not as jazzy as one expects.

The name of Joe Morris (1922-58) hardly rings a bell today. However, those familiar with the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich and Dizzy Gillespie will recognize this trumpet player who after some busy years in big bands led his own usually loud combos, playing rhythm and blues charts. It is in one of these small combos that the little giant of tenor sax, Johnny Griffin, is presented at the age of 19.

Did Griffin pick up something from his demanded rough, bluesy, riff-based performance here for his future's distinctive style? It's hard to think he didn't.

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