The Johnny GRIFFIN and Eddie "Lockjaw" DAVIS Quintet - Tough Tenor Favorites 1962

The Johnny GRIFFIN and Eddie "Lockjaw" DAVIS Quintet - Tough Tenor Favorites 1962
Label: OJC
Reissued: 1995

Jazz

Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, the two "tough tenors" in question, always made for an exciting team. With pianist Horace Parlan, bassist Buddy Catlett and drummer Ben Riley completing the quintet for this CD reissue of a Jazzland date from 1962, Griff and Lockjaw are in top form and quite competitive on a variety of standards. Highlights include "Blue Lou," "Ow," "I Wished on the Moon" and "From This Moment On." The main winner in these fiery tenor "battles" is the listener.
By Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
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Johnny Griffin/Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Quintet: Johnny Griffin, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor saxophone); Horace Parlan (piano); Buddy Catlett (bass); Ben Riley (drums).
Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York, New York on February 5, 1962. Originally released on Jazzland (976). Includes liner notes by Peter Drew.
Digitally remastered by Joe Tarantino (1995, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).
TOUGH TENOR FAVORITES is a real treat for saxophone fanatics. The "tough tenors" in question are sax luminaries Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, who team up here for seven tracks of toe-to-toe hard bop. Backed by Horace Parlan (piano), Buddy Catlett (bass), and Ben Riley (drums), Davis and Griffin often play the head in unison (the melody of "Blue Lou," played at a blinding pace, is a good example), then trade fours or eights for passages of egalitarian jamming.
Davis's tenor sound is fuller and more straightforward, while Griffin plays faster and with a bit more edge. The two make an excellent team on this 1962 date, especially when one supports the other by playing melodic variations ("Bahia") or interweaving a complementary line (as on Chano Pozo's Latin-tinged "Tin Tin Deo"). Treatments of "I Wished on the Moon" and Dizzy Gillespie's "Ow!" are among the other highlights here, and showcase both saxophonists to great effect.
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Johnny Griffin- (Tenor Sax)
Horace Parlan- (Piano),
Ben Riley- (Drums),
Buddy Catlett- (Bass),
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis- (Tenor Sax).
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01. Bahia  5:55
02. Blue Lou  4:42
03. How Am I To Know  4:56
04. Ow !  4:20
05. I Wished On The Moon  6:40
06. Tin Tin Deo  5:43
07. From This Moment On  6:05
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