Remembering Johnny Griffin....

John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928)
Is an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist. Like many other successful musicians from Chicago, he studied music at DuSable High School under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe, alto sax and finally, shortly after joining Lionel Hampton's Orchestra, tenor sax. While still at high school, at 15 Griffin was playing alongside T-Bone Walker in a band led by Walker's brother.

We lost a true giant in 2008, the great Johnny Griffin. As Ben Ratliff wrote his NY Times obit, Johnny Griffin was "...a tenor saxophonist from Chicago whose speed, control and harmonic acuity made him one of the most talented American jazz musicians of his generation."
While we were putting together the Joe Lovano retrospective, Joe also had a few words to say about Griff.
"Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack"