By the 1970s, the tides of jazz were turning towards fusion, with acoustic artists wondering where everyone went. Well, fast forward half a century, and today I rarely listen to my old Weather Report or Headhunters albums, but albums by smoking tenors like Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis are always on my play list. Time will tell.
This album is from a concert in 1975, with Griffin, known as “the fastest gun in the west” and Davis having a reputation as the smokingest one. They’re backed by a hard bopping team of Tet Montuliu/p, Nils-Henning Orsted-Pederson/b and the snappy Art Taylor/dr, with the tunes ranging from a stomping 8 minute “C Jam Blues” to a wild marathon of “Funky Flute” for 21 minutes. Davis is glorious in the spotlight, blowing smoke rings on “I Can’t Get Started” and the two bounce delightfully on “In Walked Bud”. The Selmers meld wondrously for “On Green Dolphin Street”, and everyone gets a chance to stretch out on “Stomping At The Savoy” with Montoliu in lyrical form on “Sophisticated Lady”. This is like listening to the fog roll in a Sausalito beach. Cirrus clouds of sound!