Johnny Griffin

[JSngry]

Joe = Jaws?

[JSngry]

Albert's Connoted= Francy Boland

[Shrdlu]

This reminds me of a time when I was in London, England, and got a copy of a magazine called "Time Out" to see what jazz was on offer. There's never been much jazz there, but Ronnie's always had the top names - often booked as a single backed up by a local rhythm section (always very good when I saw them). The magazine said that Zoot was booked in, and that "he was always good after he had had a few". He was, too, as expected. I saw him once, and then took some relatives back with me to hear him again. He certainly did have a few, and my cousin remarked on his skin pallor, which was kinda green. His tenor (a mk VI Selmer) was all worn - hardly any lacquer left on it - but when you are Zoot, putting out such gorgeous sounds, you can get away with that. That was in 1974, by the way. The addition of soprano was a surprise to me; he didn't go for a Trane sound on it, but sounded like Zoot an octave higher. It was lovely. I can't really think of a sax player who I'd rather hear live than good old Zoot.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Shrdlu