APRIL 17

                 JOHNNY GRIFFIN
           Introducing Johnny Griffin

                        Recording Date: 
                             April 17, 1956

                        Personnel:
                             Johnny Griffin     TS 
                             Wynton Kelly       P 
                             Max Roach           D 
                             Curly Russell        B 

                

Review by Scott Yanow
This CD reissue does not have tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin's first recording as a leader (he made a few sides for OKeh in 1953 and a full album for Argo a few months earlier in 1956), but it gained Griffin a great deal of attention. Soon billed as "the world's fastest saxophonist," Griffin was also a superior ballad interpreter with a fairly distinctive tone of his own. With strong support given by pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Curly Russell, and drummer Max Roach, Griffin romps on three of his originals, barn-busting versions of "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Cherokee" (the latter two were not on the original vinyl LP but included as bonus tracks on the initial CD release of the album), and a couple of ballads. Superior music. [In 2007 Blue Note reissued Introducing Johnny Griffin in a remastered Rudy Van Gelder edition.]