Introducing Johnny Griffin

This CD reissue does not have tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin's first recording as a leader (he made a few sides for OKeh in 1953 and a full album for Argo a few months earlier in 1956), but it gained Griffin a great deal of attention. Soon billed as "the world's fastest saxophonist," Griffin was also a superior ballad interpreter with a fairly distinctive tone of his own. ~ AllMusic

Introducing Johnny Griffin is the debut album by jazz tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. It was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack studio on April 17, 1956. For the sceptics of modern listening, who have been claiming otherwise, Max Roach has once again proven that his drumming is not only that of a soloist, but that of the all important pace-setter of the rhythm section. All of the good taste, fire, spark, imagination, dynamics, SWING, and technique which NO other drummer possesses to his -nth degree, is so readily heard that no further comment is necessary. The release of this, the first Johnny Griffin LP, proves many things. Mainly, of course, that here is a young, talented tenor saxophonist who, for too long, has been taken for granted, and who will, no doubt, soon be reaping some of his past due rewards.

Johnny Griffin had been kicking around in R&B bands for years before his Blue Note debut in 1956. A tenor saxophonist with fresh sounds, a warm, soulful style and the fastest technique in jazz, he moves from lyrical ballads to blistering tempos with ease. The first-class accompaniment is provided by Wynton Kelly, Curly Russell and Max Roach. Within two years, Griff would becomes one of the leading tenor saxophonists in jazz as a member of Thelonious Monk's quartet.

Although Dutch singer Laura Fygi initially garnered notice as a member of the disco group Centerfold, after setting out in 1992 as a solo performer she pursued a more jazz-inspired path with her debut effort Introducing Laura Fygi. On subsequent efforts including Bewitched and the following year's The Lady Wants to Know, she collaborated with figures including Johnny Griffin, Toots Thielemans and Clark Terry, and in 1997 Fygi worked with one of her idols, the great composer Michel Legrand, on Watch What Happens.