May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, whose large Chicago tenor sound and diminutive stature gave him the nickname “Little Giant,” died Friday, according to his agent, Helene Manfredi. The cause of death was unknown. He was 80.
Griffin was scheduled to perform with organist Rhoda Scott, saxophonist Olivier Temime and drummer Julie Saury. He died at home in Mauprevoir, the French village where he lived for the past 18 years.
When Griffin studied at Chicago’s Du Sable High School, the famous band director Capt. Walter Dyett told the diminutive musician he had to play alto saxophone because he was too small to play tenor. When Griffin got his first big call—to play with band leader Lionel Hampton, in 1945—he brought his alto. Little did he know he was taking the tenor saxophone chair, and, not only that, his dueling partner in the band was the enormous “Texas tenor” Arnett Cobb.
Perhaps it was this early, competitive cauldron that sparked Griffin to become a competitive, racehorse improviser; whatever it was, Griffin soon earned the nickname, “fastest tenor in the West.”
Griffin was born April 24, 1928, in Chicago, and began studying clarinet in 1941. After his stint with Hamp, he worked on the East Coast with an r&b band led by Joe Morris, and with a variety of other players, including both of the drumming Joneses—Philly Joe and Jo—Percy Heath and Gene Ramey. He also hung out extensively with Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell during this period, absorbing their musical ideas. In 1957, after a a stretch in the Army, Griffin joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, then replaced John Coltrane in Monk’s group in 1958. For two years, he led a “tough tenors” quintet with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. In 1963 Griffin moved to Europe, settling first in Paris, then the Netherlands and finally in Southern France. In Paris, Griffin performed at the Blue Note with other expatriates, including Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke; and from 1967-‘69 he was a soloist in the Clarke-Boland Big Band.
One of the last surviving artists who appears on the famous “Great Day In Harlem” photo, Griffin attacked standards, particularly war-horses such as “All the Things You Are” with ferocious strings of ideas. He had a warm, round, personal and well-seasoned sound. In his later years, he became as accomplished on ballads as uptempo numbers.
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
How best to mark Miles Davis’ centennial? By allowing the stories to flow, and cross-discussions to happen.
May 26, 2026 10:40 AM
Editor’s Note: The iconic trumpeter, composer and bandleader Miles Davis would have turned 100 today (May 26, 2026).…
Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.
Jul 16, 2026 1:34 PM
The DownBeat Critics Poll never ceases to amaze! And the 74th Edition offered plenty of accolades for poll veterans and…
Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”
Jun 30, 2026 3:19 PM
Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the NEA Jazz Master from South Africa who helped fuse the folk music of his home country with…
