Johnny Griffin & Eddie Lockjaw Davis

Johnny Griffin - Catharsis (1999)
MP3 320Kbps | 143.19Mb
Label: Storyville Records | Genre: Jazz, Bebop

Johnny Griffin, a tenor saxophonist from Chicago whose speed, control and harmonic acuity made him one of the most talented American jazz musicians of his generation yet who spent most of his career in Europe, died Friday at his home in Availles-Limouzine, a village in France. He was 80 and had lived there for 24 years.His death was confirmed by his wife, Miriam, who did not give a cause. He played his last concert on Monday in Hyères, France.Mr. Griffin’s modest height earned him the nickname the Little Giant; his speed in bebop improvising marked him as the Fastest Gun in the West; a group he led with his fellow saxophonist Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis was informally called the Tough Tenor band, a designation that was eventually applied to a whole school of hard-bop tenor players. And in general, Mr. Griffin suffered from categorization.

Placed at New York City's Seventh Avenue South, the Village Vanguard is one of the truly legendary venues in jazz, a name that ranks along the fabled Birdland, Lighthouse, Bohemia, Basin Street, Blackhawk, and Blue Note of yesterday and today. Since the Vanguard first opened its doors in 1935, the list of jazz greats who have appeared on its stage at one time or another reads like a who's who in the field: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Stan Getz…

Johnny Griffin was born in Chicago April 24, 1928. He played clarinet and alto saxophone but changed to tenor when he got his first professional job with Lionel Hampton when he was 17 years old. He later played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and replaced John Coltrane in 1958 in Thelonious Monk's Quartet. From 1960 - 1962 he co-lead the famous and much recorded "Tough Tenors" quintet with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. In 1963 he moved to Europe where he has been living ever since. He is now living in France - south of Paris.

Johnny Griffin - Change Of Pace (1961) {Riverside OJCCD-1922-2 rel 1999}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 248 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 8 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961, 1999 Riverside Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1922-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Tenor saxophone, French horn, drums, two string basses; a change of pace, indeed, brought off with adventurousness and aplomb by Johnny Griffin. By 1961, when he recorded Change of Pace, Griffin had built a reputation as one of the most formidable hard-bop tenors. His greased-lightning abilities with the saxophone were well known from his work with Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, and the group he co-led with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.

This compilation containing twenty five beautiful compositions from famous jazz artists