Johnny Griffin and Eddie ”Lockjaw” Davis did several albums together. A few of them live at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, where all those legendary after hours jam sessions, featuring Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Clarke etc. took place back in the early 1940s. It was there they experimented and developed modern jazz or bebop. I recently acquired two of those titles. This is one of them, recorded in 1961.
This is a tenor extravaganza with all the bells and whistles you’d want from a live jazz performance in NYC. Improvisational excellence from a great band, consisting of the two cats on tenor, Junior Mance on piano, Larry Gales on double bass and Ben Riley on drums.
Favorite pick of the album is Dizzy Gillespie’s homage to Woody Herman ”Woody ’n’ You”, written in 1942. It’s smokin’. Another favorite is the Lockjaw original ”Bingo Domingo” which features some lovely double bass playing by Larry Gales. I got to mention the classic ”I’ll Remember April” as well, where Junior Mance delivers an outstanding piano solo.
Johnny Griffin is very familiar to me but Lockjaw’s output I haven’t explored much. I need to dive deeper into his catalogue, cause I dig him a lot. I think there is plenty there to enjoy.
Do you have any favorite Lockjaw titles you would like to share? Cheers!