Johnny Griffin

Johnny Griffin (born April 24, 1928, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died July 25, 2008, Availles-Limouzine, France) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist noted for his fluency in the hard-bop idiom.

Griffin began playing woodwinds at Du Sable High School in Chicago, and after graduation he toured with Lionel Hampton’s big band (1945–47) and with trumpeter Joe Morris (1947–50). After two years in a U.S. Army band (1951–53), Griffin played in Chicago and then New York, where he established a national reputation playing with Art Blakey (1957) and Thelonious Monk (1958). Together with tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, he led a quintet in 1960–62, before moving to France in 1963. He then maintained an active career touring European jazz centres, soloing with the Kenny Clarke–Francy Boland big band in the 1960s and, from 1978, leading his quartet in annual American tours.

Griffin’s tenor saxophone improvising was in a transitional style that fused swing and bebop elements. In earlier recordings, including A Blowin’ Session (1957), The Congregation (1957), and Way Out! (1959), he was noted for his creativity and technical dexterity, even while creating on complex harmonic structures (chord changes) at fast tempos. Such later recordings as Bush Dance (1983), The Cat (1990), and Chicago, New York, Paris (1994) demonstrated his sustained mastery in long solos and his instinct for building solos in classic forms while maintaining his instrumental fluency. Griffin continued to perform with his quartet into the 21st century, and the outstanding Live at Ronnie Scott’s (2008) was recorded in London shortly before his death.