The Jazz Show Episode December 10, 2018
Tenor Saxophone Master Johnny Griffin: "The Little Giant"
9:03pm - 12:40am
Tonight'd Jazz Feature beams the spotlight on Johnny Griffin, one of the foremost masters of the tenor saxophone. Hard hitting, fast, and passionate, Griffin was not one you fooled with as he could outplay just about anybody. This album is one of his best as it features a well-rehearsed sextet with fresh compositions by a colleague of Johnny's, pianist/composer/arranger Norman Simmons. They both were from Chicago and went to school together. Simmons brings some very fresh sounds to the date here as he arranged all the tunes and wrote 3 fine tunes. Johnny picked Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Julian Priester on trombone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. "The Little Giant" remains one of Johnny's most iconic albums. Hard hitting Jazz from the Windy City!