CD Description
While no innovator, the late Johnny Griffin was one of the greatest post-Sonny Rollins tenor saxophone stylists. Griffin combined the big, hard-edged tone of Rollins and Dexter Gordon with the blues roots of his Chicago upbringing--the result was a distinctively agile, speedy, and assertive style. This BEST OF collects Griffin's recordings for the Riversideand Fantasy labels circa 1953-78 (leaning toward the earlier years, as he relocated to Europe in 1963). Mostly bebop standards, BEST gives a dandy sampling of his early recordingsas a leader--it's some of the best straight-up hard bop extant.