Renowned as one of the pioneering players of the hard bop jazz era, John Arnold “Johnny” Griffin III (4/24/29-7/25/2008) grew up in Chicago where he studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under legendary school music director Captain Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax.
Music was in the household as his mother was a singer and father played cornet. While still at high school at the age of 15, Griffin was playing with T-Bone Walker in a band led by Walker’s brother.
Alto saxophone was still his instrument of choice when, at age 17, he joined Lionel Hampton’s big band three days after his high school graduation, but Hampton encouraged him to take up the tenor, playing alongside Arnett Cobb.
His first known featured recording came in 1948 with the single “Fly Mister Fly” b/w “Out of the Night” (Manor 1136) credited as the Joe Morris Orchestra featuring Johnny Griffin.
After returning to Chicago from two years in the Army, Griffin began establishing a reputation as one of the premiere saxophonists in that city. Thelonious Monk enthusiastically encouraged Orrin Keepnews of Riverside Records to sign the young tenor, but before he could act Blue Note Records had signed Griffin.
The first few years would find Griffin recording for both labels. Blue Note would issue the first record in his catalog in 1956 with Introducing Johnny Griffin (Blue Note 1533). T he following year Griffin was featured with the Wilbur Ware Quintet on the album The Chicago Sound (Riverside 252). Chicago’s Argo label also captured him with the 1958 release Johnny Griffin (Argo 624).
Nicknamed “The Little Giant” for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin’s unique style, based on an astounding technique, included a vast canon of bebop language. He was known to quote generously from classical, opera and other musical forms.
A prodigious player, he was often subjected to and victorious at “cutting sessions” (a musical battle between two musicians) involving a legion of tenor players, both in his hometown Chicago with the likes of Hank Mobley and Gene Ammons, and on the road.
Chicago lost Griffin when he moved to Europe in 1963, the result of being encumbered by tax problems, a failing marriage and, according to journalist Ben Ratliff, “feeling embittered by the critical acceptance of free jazz” in the United States.
In Europe, he would often get called on when American jazz players toured there and he would record with numerous European rhythm sections.
Chicago continued to be able to enjoy Griffin as he would make annual pilgrimages back to the city for his birthday, usually playing a week stint at the Jazz Showcase.
Griffin performed his last concert on July 21, 2008 in France. Four days later he succumbed to a heart attack. He left behind a legacy of nearly 100 albums and remembered as a seminal figure of the hard bop era.