Johnny Griffin
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| Johnny Griffin | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Arnold Griffin III |
| Also known as | "Little Giant" |
| Born | April 24, 1928 |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Bop Hard Bop Post-bop |
| Occupation(s) | Saxophonist, Bandleader |
| Instrument(s) | Tenor saxophone |
| Label(s) | Blue Note Records |
| Associated acts | John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk |
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928) is an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.
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[edit] Early career
Like many other successful musicians from Chicago, he studied music at DuSable High School under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe, alto sax and finally, shortly after joining Lionel Hampton's Orchestra, tenor sax alongside Arnett Cobb. While still at high school, at 15 Griffin was playing with T-Bone Walker in a band led by Walker's brother.
He worked in Lionel Hampton's Orchestra (first appearing on a Los Angeles recording in 1945, at the age of 17), leaving to join fellow Hampton band member Joe Morris's Orchestra from 1947 to 1949. He played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for a few months in 1957, and in the Thelonious Monk Sextet and Quartet (1958). During this period, he recorded a very smooth and stylish set with Clark Terry on "Serenade To Bus Seat" featuring the rhythm trio of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. He rejoined Monk in the Octet and Nonet in 1967. He also recorded with the Nat Adderley Quintet in 1958 and again in 1978.
As a leader of his own band, his 1956 Blue Note recording Introducing Johnny Griffin, which also featured Wynton Kelly on piano, Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums, brought him critical acclaim. Having felt he had achieved much in the USA, his pinnacle on record arguably the 1957 Blue Note album A Blowing Session with fellow tenor John Coltrane, he moved to Europe.
[edit] Move to Europe
Apart from appearing regularly under his own name at jazz clubs such as London's Ronnie Scott's, Griffin became the "first choice" sax player for visiting US musicians touring the continent during the 60s and 70s.
From 1960 to 1962 he and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis led their own quintet, recording several albums together. They met up again in 1970 and recorded Tough Tenors Again 'n' Again, and again with the Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1965 he recorded some albums with Wes Montgomery. From 1967 to 1969, he formed part of The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, and in the late 70s, recorded with Peter Herbolzheimer And His Big Band, which also included, among others, Nat Adderley, Derek Watkins, Art Farmer, Slide Hampton, Jiggs Whigham, Herb Geller, Wilton Gaynair, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Rita Reys, Jean "Toots" Thielemans, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, Grady Tate, and Quincy Jones as arranger.
He went to live in France in 1963, moving to the Netherlands in 1978, and he still continues to record and tour.
[edit] Selected discography
- Introducing Johnny Griffin (1956)
- A Blowing Session (1957)
- The Congregation (1957)
- Johnny Griffin Sextet (1958)
- The Little Giant (1959)
- The Big Soul Band (1960)
- White Gardenia (1961; Riverside Records)
- The Kerry Dancers and Other Swinging Folk (1961)
- Tough Tenor Favourites (1962)
- Grab This! (1962)
- The Man I Love (1967)
- Tough Tenors Again 'n' Again, with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (1970)
- Bush Dance (1978)
- That Old Feeling (Rita Reys, Trio Pim Jacobs ft. Johnny Griffin (1979)
- Take My Hand (1988}
- The Cat (1990}
- Dance of Passion (1992}
- Johnny Griffin/Steve Grossman Quintet (2000}
[edit] Bibliography
- Mike Hennessey The Little Giant: The Story of Johnny Griffin. London: Northway Publications, 2008. ISBN 978 09550908 5 1
[edit] Quotations
'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'.
