JSngry Posted August 3, 2003 Report Posted August 3, 2003 I dig his LPs on Strata-East & Trident quite a bit. I like his writing too - very "populist" in nature, simple. singable lines with nice changes that you can do as much (or as little) with as you want. I like his choice of sidemen (Sam Rivers, Gary Bartz, Stanley Cowell, Clifford Jordan, Freddie Waits, Cecil McBee, among others) and I like how they treat the material - they give it full integrety and don't "play down" to it at all. Seems like real "people music" to me. I don't know that Dick Griffin is necessarily an "outstanding" trombonist per se, and truthfully, those recordss work for me because of the material and the sidemen (Sam Rivers has is a TOTAL GAS on flute on EIGHTH WONDER) a lot more than they do becasue of Griffin himself. But on those two albums (reissued on Konnex CD), I sure like his music, the overall package. This, not smooth or other such silliness, is how to "play jazz for the people" , or at least it was a few decades ago. Seems like those albums (and the CD reissues) came and went without much notice. Haven't yet heard his last album, a 1999 organ thing w/Larry Goldings, but I probably should. Anybody else dig the music of Dick Griffin? Quote
rockefeller center Posted August 3, 2003 Report Posted August 3, 2003 I haven't heard anything with Dick Griffin apart from his work with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. I like his solo on "Fly By Night" (from "The Inflated Tear") very much. Thanks for the suggestion. Quote
Tom in RI Posted August 3, 2003 Report Posted August 3, 2003 (edited) Jim, I hear ya and I agree. I've had a copy of The Eighth Wonder for a long time but due to bubbles in the pressing I have only listened to it a couple of times. Picked up the two Konnex issues last year (Cadence has 'em). One thing that's kind of funny, when Cadence reviewed the Konnex releases (quite some time ago now) the reviewer didn't identify the material with Sam Rivers as originally from Strata East, out of character for them. Is the stuff with Clifford Jordan from the Trident label? If so could you send the dates of recording? Thanks. Trdient issued a personal favorite, Keno Duke with George Coleman and Frank Strozier, has that ever made it to cd? Edited August 3, 2003 by Tom in RI Quote
mikeweil Posted August 3, 2003 Report Posted August 3, 2003 (edited) Trident issued a personal favorite, Keno Duke with George Coleman and Frank Strozier, has that ever made it to cd? A just recently completed Frank Strozier discography to check this is available on Noal Cohen's website. Edited August 3, 2003 by mikeweil Quote
JohnS Posted August 4, 2003 Report Posted August 4, 2003 (edited) I love the trombone so I'm slightly biased, but Griffin is a fine player. Unfortunately I've not heard the Trident album. He ws in the UK with Abdullah Ibrahim in the late 80s and it was good to hear him live. He's on Ibrahim's Blackhawk album "Ekaya" Dick's also on the two rather neglected (imo) Hilton Ruiz Group cds, featuring Sam Rivers, on RCA. Edited August 4, 2003 by JohnS Quote
White Lightning Posted March 29, 2008 Report Posted March 29, 2008 Up! after 4.5 years Much love here. Griffin sound and music add a lot to Rahsaan's Volunteered Slavery and the Inflated Tear. Also his collaboration with Abdullah Ibrahim are worth mentioning, especially all those live-private recordings. And of course The Eighth Wonder on Strata, to which I'm very partial. Quote
Guest Bill Barton Posted March 29, 2008 Report Posted March 29, 2008 Much love here... I'm a big fan of his recordings with Rahsaan and Abdullah Ibrahim too as well as his solo stuff. He's got some serious soul. Bright Moments to Mr. Griffin wherever he may be. Quote
mjzee Posted March 29, 2008 Report Posted March 29, 2008 I enjoy Griffin's work with Abdullah Ibrahim. He has a very nice sound. On "African Marketplace," which is a large ensemble work, you notice Griffin cutting through the sound to play his piece, which really makes the whole composition flow. I also got a chance to see him with Ibrahim at Town Hall (Ricky Ford was also in the band). http://www.dickgriffin.info/ Quote
Christiern Posted March 29, 2008 Report Posted March 29, 2008 Bill Barton: "Bright Moments to Mr. Griffin wherever he may be." Dick is right here in NYC, doing interesting things with his Mac, as well as playing interesting sounds on his trombone. Quote
Guest Bill Barton Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 That's good to know, Chris, I've always enjoyed his playing a great deal. Quote
Christiern Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Actually, Dick was quite ill for awhile, but he is doing fine now. Quote
Guest Bill Barton Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Actually, Dick was quite ill for awhile, but he is doing fine now. I recall reading about his illness awhile back. Glad to hear he's healthy again! Quote
JSngry Posted March 30, 2008 Author Report Posted March 30, 2008 Is anybody else having this thread display weird? Quote
Guest Bill Barton Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Is anybody else having this thread display weird? Looks okay from here. Other than the "usual" weirdness of course Quote
JSngry Posted March 30, 2008 Author Report Posted March 30, 2008 I'm getting a weird box where Mike Weil's post is, and the only way I can see the rest of the thread is to click the "Other Options" button, which takes me to this posting box. It's odd, there's no other thread where this is happening... Quote
Christiern Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Didn't I suggest that you get a Mac? Don't you wish you had? Quote
marcello Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 I got the same thing yesterday, Chris. On my Mac. Quote
tkeith Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Anybody else dig the music of Dick Griffin? Absotively. Had the good fortune to talk with him and Eddie Gale over dinner about a year-and-a-half ago. It was like a trip through a period I was not lucky enough to live through. Dick's playing and writing always struck me as very honest. I think NOW IS THE TIME is one of the most played records (along with Pharoah's JOURNEY TO THE ONE) I've ever owned. Dick's sort of like Mal Waldron -- no technique, just pure heart (clearly an over-simplification, as multi-phonics most definitely qualify as technique). I was luke-warm on his artwork until hearing him discuss it. It's very interesting what he's trying to express, and much like his music, it's very honest. Modern musicians should be listening to more of this sort of stuff from the 70s, IMHO. The music seems to have stagnated a great deal, and it's largely because the educational establishment has everyone looking back to the 60s and before. All that music is great, but it doesn't have a heck of a lot to do with our current way of living. I think if more musicians were exposed to the Strata-East era stuff, the music would benefit greatly. With that, I'll rank myself as a certified Dick Griffin *fan*. Quote
rockefeller center Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 I'm getting a weird box where Mike Weil's post is, and the only way I can see the rest of the thread is to click the "Other Options" button, which takes me to this posting box. It's odd, there's no other thread where this is happening... Firefox? The posts are all there in the html-code but aren't displayed in Firefox (2.0.0.12). Opera and IE6 render that page correctly though. There must be some error in the generated html. Well, who cares... Quote
JSngry Posted March 30, 2008 Author Report Posted March 30, 2008 Yeah, Firfox is fouled up, but IE displays correctly. Wierd that's it's just this one thread... Quote
Spontooneous Posted March 30, 2008 Report Posted March 30, 2008 Look up the two compositions by Dick on Hilton Ruiz's "El Camino." Wonderful stuff. Quote
king ubu Posted April 1, 2008 Report Posted April 1, 2008 I have this here, besides the albums with Rahsaan: http://cdbaby.com/cd/dickgriffin2 Fine one! Quote
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