Night Lady
Johnny Griffin Quartet
Emarcy Records
Released 1965
John “Johnny” Griffin III was born in 1928 in Chicago. Griffin studied music at DuSable High School In Chicago and joined Lionel Hampton’s band three days after graduation. He made his first recordings with Hampton’s band at the age of 17. After serving two years in the US Army, Griffin returned to Chicago and was soon signed to Blue Note Records. He was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Thelonius Monk’s Five Spot quartet. He recorded many albums as a leader and sideman with Blue Note and later with Riverside Records. Because of Griffin’s short stature, he became known as “Little Giant.” Like many of his jazz comtemporaries, Griffin moved to Europe in 1963 due to personal issues and the emergence of free jazz in the US. He continued performing and recording in Europe as a solo artist and in combos with Monk, Wes Montgomery, Nat Adderly, Dizzy Gillepsie, and Peter Herbolzheimer’s big band. Night Lady was recorded in what was then West Germany in 1963. Originally released in the Netherlands on the Phillips label in 1964, it later appeared on Emarcy in the US in 1965. Griffin is backed by Francy Boland (piano), Jimmy Woode (bass), and Kenny “Klook” Clarke (drums). Griffin, Boland, and Clarke met as members of the Clarke-Boland Big Band, and this quartet setting gives Griffin and Boland room to blow. The title track is a Boland original that begins with a loping waltz until Griffin kicks it into high gear while Boland’s piano echoes Horace Silver. Griffin’s bluesy improvisation titled “Scrabble” is introduced by Clarke and Woode. Griffin eases in, building the intensity, climaxing with some exciting exchanges with Clarke. Night Lady is a great set of hard bop jazz thanks to Boland’s arrangements that bring out the best in Griffin. Griffin made some forays back to the States (including annual appearances in his hometown) but Europe remained his home base until his death from a heart attack in France in 2008. Griffin received a Grammy nomination in 2001 and is considered to be a pioneer of hard-bop jazz, a style that he followed throughout his life.