Earl Griffith, Vibraphonist

[jeffcrom]

I'm listening to Cecil Taylor's Looking Ahead tonight for the first time in a while, and I'm really taken with vibraphonist Earl Griffith's playing. His improvising is strong, and even though he presumably is coming from a more conventional orientation than Taylor (as was just about everybody in 1958), he complements Taylor's vision well.

According to Donald Clarke, Griffith was born in Brooklyn in 1926. Other than that bit of information, I have been able to find little about Griffith in print or on the web. I had believed that the Looking Ahead album was Griffith's only recording, because that's what I had read. But a little digging reveals that he plays on one track of Themes for African Drums by Guy Warren, aka Kofi Bhanaba. I have no idea what this 1958 album sounds like, but I just ordered a copy from an Ebay vendor, because Earl Griffith impressed me so much tonight.

Does anyone have any other information or opinions about this talented, obscure musician?

Edited March 4, 2016 by jeffcrom

[Homefromtheforest]

All I can say is that I think Earl really shines on "looking ahead" as well...great album.

[JSngry]

Those older Guy Warren records are the type of things that will fascinate you and confuse you and frustrate you all at the same time. I think the "angle" was "exotica", but the stuff goes way beyond that.

fwiw, Griffith only plays accompaniment on the cut he's on, but don't let that stop you from jumping in with both feet ahead.

No Earl Griffith, but hello, this:

 

 

[Homefromtheforest]

I only have two Guy Warren records - "Afro jazz" and "African soundz"...both with Amancio D'Silva on guitar and from the late 60s/early 70s I believe..I'll have to keep an eye out for the one you mention with Earl Griffith.

Funny..as much as I love free jazz, my favorite CT stuff is the early records like the aforementioned Contemporary album and the Candid and United Artist ones..not a huge fan of the 30 min marathons from the 70s onwards. The Blue notes are about the last ones I really enjoy although I do have a sampling of 70s-90s efforts just to revisit whenever..

[Larry Kart]

Two tracks from "Africa Speaks, America Answers." The trumpeter on the first track sounds to me like Art Hoyle. Red Saunders, Gene Esposito, and Hoyle (a Sun Ra sideman early on, of course) were all Chicago-based:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exve2JO8hxA

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmJfp1ypWMg

[JohnS]

Nothing to add except to say the Griffith does a great job on Looking Ahead.  A terrifically exciting record.

[paul secor]

Some years ago, I was in touch with the writer Paule Marshall, who dedicated her novel, The Fisher King, "For the memory of: my cousin, Sonny Clement, baritone sax; Earl Griffith, vibes; Ernie Henry, alto sax; And especially for Neats and Lesley"

I wrote to Ms. Marshall about the dedication and she replied that Earl Griffith and Ernie Henry were childhood friends. I can't find her letter right now, but I believe that she wrote that Earl Griffith died as a result of a subway fall.

[clifford_thornton]

yeah, I'd heard about his unfortunate manner of passing elsewhere, too. I was under the impression that he and Cecil were in disagreement about the music, but beyond that I'm not sure of specifics. He's a fantastic player on that record.

[Niko]

I just searched a bit on the internet while playing Looking Ahead... it seems that Earl Sinclair Griffith is "the" Earl Griffith (only Earl Griffith born in NY in 1926 at least), he was born on 1 May 1926 and died in September 1961.

[Dub Modal]

Playing Looking Ahead now and had to look up the vibes player. Surprised to see such a limited discography but he may have unfortunately passed too soon as noted above. Really enjoy him on this album