Tenor Masters Griffin And Davis Live At The Penthouse

Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis were tenor saxophone masters whose collaborations made them among the instrument’s most celebrated players. Although each had individual accomplishments that helped put him at the top of the tenor saxophone honor roll, their frequent performances and recordings in tandem helped make them inseparable in the minds of jazz listeners and reflected in the popularity-poll votes of critics. Their “new” album was reissued recently on the Reel To Real label. It is titled OW! after one of its tracks, a celebrated Dizzy Gillespie composition from the early years of bebop.  The music was recorded in 1962 at Seattle’s belated Penthouse club. The premium rhythm section supporting Davis and Griffin was pianist Horace Parlan, Seattle’s homegrown international bass star Buddy Catlett, and the superb drummer Arthur Taylor.