Johnny Griffin Quartet
b. John Arnold Griffin III, 24 April 1928, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Griffin studied tenor saxophone at Du Sable High School where his tutor was Walter Dyatt, who also taught Gene Ammons and Von Freeman. In his mid-teens, Griffin joined the Lionel Hampton R&B-based big band and followed this with a spell in a similarly-orientated band led by Joe Morris. During the late 40s and early 50s he worked with numerous mainstream and bebop musicians, including Philly Joe Jones, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Arnett Cobb. After military service, Griffin joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1957, worked again with Monk, and co-led a band with Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis - they dubbed themselves ‘tough tenors’, a sobriquet which has since been applied to an entire sub-genre of tenor playing. In the early 60s Griffin lived in Europe, where he often accompanied visiting American jazzmen and in 1967-68 was a member of the multi-national Clarke-Boland Big Band. In the 70s Griffin toured extensively, usually as a solo but sometimes in harness with Davis and Cobb; in the 80s he occasionally appeared with the Paris Reunion Band.
A gifted and fiercely combative player, Griffin displays a seemingly endless stream of ideas, often at rapid-fire speeds. His style owes much to his bebop associates and predecessors and he was one of the best hard bop musicians of the 70s and 80s. His 90s recorded work on the Antilles label with Kenny Washington (drums) is of particular note, both fresh and rewarding.
© TiVo
Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Dance Of Passion
Jazz - Released by Verve Reissues on 1 jan. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Way Out! (Album of 1958)
Pop - Released by Jazz Classics on 31 okt. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Unpretentious Delights
Jazz - Released by West Wind on 1 jan. 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Way Out! (Mono Version)
Jazz - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Jamfs Are Coming!
Jazz - Released by Timeless Records on 14 nov. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Kerry Dancers and Other Swinging Folk (Riverside Limited, HD Remastered)
Vocale jazz - Released by Reborn recordings on 6 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Kerry Dancers and Other Swinging Folk (Hq Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Vintage Recordings on 4 aug. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Way Out! (HD Remastered)
Vocale jazz - Released by Reborn recordings on 1 nov. 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Way Out! (Hq Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Vintage Recordings on 6 aug. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Johnny Griffin Quartet
Jazz - Released by Marathon Media International on 27 feb. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo