Hard Bop RIP
Johnny Griffin: A Blowin' Session: "Smoke Stack" [mp3]
Johnny Griffin died this past Friday at the age of 80, and I realize his name doesn't mean anything to those of you who don't care about Jazz, but he was one of those guys who never quite rose to the very top. As a tenor saxophonist in other people's groups, he played with plenty of the biggest and best - Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane - but he never quite rose to the prominence that those artists did.
Perhaps it was because he moved to Paris in 1960...Don't get me wrong, Europe loved Jazz back then, and still love Jazz to this day in a way that Americans really haven't since the Big Band era, really...For a Jazz player, especially one who wasn't a marquee name, Europe was definitely the place to be appreciated, and actually make a living by making music...
Anyways, perhaps it's my own perceptions, but Johnny Griffin is one of those guys who kinda fell through the cracks a bit, at least here in the states...He never became a household name, and I'm not even certain that he even deserved it, but I can't help but cheer a bit for the underdogs in this world, you know. He was known as the "fastest tenor in the west", and "Little Giant", but he could never quite escape Coltrane's shadow...
And whattya know - here's Johnny Griffin, blowin' with Coltrane, and Hank Mobley - three tenor players ripping it up, accompanied by a stellar lineup including Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums...
For the record, that's Johnny Griffin playing the first sax solo in "Smoke Stack"...
Enjoy, and RIP, Johnny Griffin.
Hotcha! Hank
Labels: album covers, Johnny Griffin, mp3, music, RIP
posted by Hank Mohaski at 4:28 PM
2 Comments:
Ok on the jazzy Stuff - gaina, have you given the love to Herbie Hancock lately? Ever a family name based joke? And as for no madison concerts, I know you want to keep friends with connections at a distance, but why no blog on teh flat atom explosion? is it even called that anymore? Whew!
The drumming tappy like sticks on rim is nice change up about half-way thru! I also love that you made an icon for the song. Go Vista!
While I do believe the local scene is weak, relative to "the way things used to be" in Milwaukee and Madison, mostly my bitch is with national touring acts who bypass Wisconsin...
The lack of good local bands, in my mind, is a slightly different subject...
And of course, I think Flat Atom is good, though I say that while acknowledging that the kind of music they play isn't near the top of my favorites...Industrial music of the NIN and Ministry variety, which we would probably agree is a pretty strong influence of Flat Atom, just never "spoke" to me, you know?
I like Flat Atom as much as I can probably like their style of music, because they know what they're doing and are quite good at it, and yes, because they're my friends.
I think if I've never blogged about them, or any other local acts, it's mostly because I've removed myself from the scene in the last 2-3 years.
Hiya, Ben!
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