Another 'find' from the seemingly infinite archives of record companies and private individuals - there's hope for that Buddy Bolden cylinder yet!
The material on this 1964 live set from Ronnie's was recorded by that well known jazz writer, the late Les Tomkins, and subsequently mastered by Casper Sutton-Jones and Darrel Sheiman at Gearbox Records.
Griffin is in fine form running through the changes at, I quote, 320 beats per minute on Indiana which would have your Wittner metronome popping its spring. Fortunately, with Dougan on drums, no metronome is needed he drives it along like the powerhouse that he was reminding us of just how great a loss to British jazz it was when, after moving to Australia, he died in a car crash aged only 42.
Malcolm Cecil, well known in the north east from a few years earlier when he was part of the EmCee Five, impresses on bass.
On my promo CD Stan Tracey appears to be under-recorded although that could be due to my sound system. What I can pick up sounds good his chords punctuating behind Griffin possibly reminding the tenor player of his time with Monk.
The album runs for 53 minutes which, considering there are only three tracks plus The Theme - the riff with which most Americans back then finished off their set with - this is a well and truly hard-blowing set, the extended solos/ideas rolling endlessly from his fingers.
The Girl Next Door isn't the ballad it usually is but a nice bouncy swing that once again sees our man in full flight. The final track, Blues in Two, is a typical twelve bar riff composed by Griffin before he finishes off with the aforementioned The Theme.
A great session that brought to mind a memorable concert at Newcastle's Connaught Hall in 1967. Chris Yates, in his Blue Horizons has Griffin as being backed by the Mike Carr Trio. I'm not so sure. For some reason Damian Robinson springs to mind but I may be wrong!
However, that is neither here nor there and this recording is a reminder that Griffin was 'the fastest tenor in the west'. Of course, here in England, we had 'the fastest tenor in the east' - don't ask, you know who I'm talkin' 'bout! Sell your grandmother for this one! Lance
2 comments :
Damian Robinson appeared at the Connaught Hall in 1967 as a member of the Dave Shepherd Quintet which supported Teddy Wilson.
Thanks Tony, I knew I'd seen him at Connaught but couldn't remember who with.
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