# Johnny Griffin

John Arnold Griffin III (24 de abril de 1928 - 25 de julho de 2008) foi um tenor saxofonista bebop e hard bebop estadunidense. Faleceu com 80 anos em 2008 vítima de ataque do coração.
Apelidado de "o Pequeno Gigante" por sua baixa estatura e jogo vigoroso, a carreira de Griffin começou em meados da década de 1940 e continuou até o mês de sua morte. Figura pioneira no hard bop, Griffin gravou prolificamente como líder de banda, além de passagens com o pianista Thelonious Monk, o baterista Art Blakey, em parceria com o tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis e como membro da Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band depois ele se mudou para a Europa na década de 1960. Em 1995, Griffin recebeu o título de Doutor Honorário em Música da Berklee College of Music.

## Discografia
### Como líder

* 1956: Johnny Griffin (Argo, 1958)
* 1956: Introducing Johnny Griffin (Blue Note)
* 1957: A Blowing Session (Blue Note)
* 1957: The Congregation (Blue Note)
* 1958: Johnny Griffin Sextet (Riverside)
* 1958: Way Out! (Riverside)
* 1959: The Little Giant (Riverside)
* 1960: The Big Soul-Band (Riverside)
* 1960: Battle Stations (Prestige)
* 1960: Johnny Griffin's Studio Jazz Party (Riverside)
* 1960: Tough Tenors (Jazzland)
* 1960: Griff & Lock (Jazzland)
* 1961: The First Set (Prestige)
* 1961: The Tenor Scene (Prestige)
* 1961: The Late Show (Prestige)
* 1961: The Midnight Show (Prestige)
* 1961: Lookin' at Monk! (Prestige)
* 1961: Change of Pace (Riverside)
* 1961: Blues Up & Down (Jazzland)
* 1961: White Gardenia (Riverside)
* 1961: The Kerry Dancers (Riverside)
* 1962: Tough Tenor Favorites (Jazzland)
* 1962: Grab This! (Riverside)
* 1963: Soul Groove (Atlantic) com Matthew Gee
* 1963: Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me (Riverside)
* 1964: Night Lady (Philips)
* 1967: The Man I Love (Polydor)
* 1967: You Leave Me Breathless (Black Lion)
* 1967: A Night in Tunisia (Trio)
* 1967: Body and Soul (Moon)
* 1968: Jazz Undulation (Joker)
* 1968: Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz (Vogue)
* 1970: Tough Tenors Again 'n' Again (MPS)
* 1973: Blues for Harvey (SteepleChase)
* 1974: Johnny Griffin Live at Music Inn (Horo)
* 1975: All the Things You Are (Timeless)
* 1976: Johnny Griffin Live in Tokyo (Philips)
* 1976: The Little Giant Revisited (Philips)
* 1978: Sincerely Ours (Four Leaf Clover) com Rolf Ericson
* 1978: Return of the Griffin (Galaxy)
* 1978: Bush Dance (Galaxy)
* 1978: Birds and Ballads (Galaxy)
* 1979: NYC Underground (Galaxy)
* 1979: To the Ladies (Galaxy)
* 1980: Live / Autumn Leaves (Verve)
* 1981: Meeting (Jeton)
* 1983: Call It Whachawana (Galaxy)
* 1984: Tenors Back Again! (Storyville)
* 1985: Three Generations of Tenor Saxophone
* 1986: Have You Met Barcelona
* 1988: Take My Hand (Who's Who in Jazz)
* 1990: The Cat (Antilles)
* 1992: Dance of Passion (Antilles)
* 1994: Chicago-New york-Paris
* 1995: Chicago, New York, Paris (Verve/Polygram)
* 1999: In and Out (Dreyfus)
* 2000: Johnny Griffin and Steve Grossman Quintet
* 2000: Johnny Griffin and Horace Parlan: Close Your Eyes (Minor Music)
* 2002: Johnny Griffin and the Great Danes

### Como sideman

Com Ahmed Abdul-Malik
* Jazz Sahara (Riverside, 1958)
* East Meets West (RCA Victor, 1960)
Com Nat Adderley
* Branching Out (Riverside, 1958)
* A Little New York Midtown Music (Galaxy, 1978)
Com Chet Baker
* Chet Baker in New York (Riverside, 1958)
Com Count Basie
* Count Basie Jam Session at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1975 (Pablo, 1975)
Com Art Blakey
* Selections from Lerner and Loewe's... (Vik, 1957)
* A Night in Tunisia (Vik, 1957)
* Cu-Bop (Jubilee, 1957)
* Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers com Thelonious Monk (Atlantic, 1957)
* Hard Drive (Bethlehem, 1957)
Com James Carter
* Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge (Warner Bros., 2001 [2004])
Com the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band
* Sax No End (SABA, 1967)
* Out of the Folk Bag (Columbia, 1967)
* 17 Men and Their Music (Campi, 1967)
* All Smiles (MPS, 1968)
* Faces (MPS, 1969)
* Latin Kaleidoscope (MPS, 1968)
* Fellini 712 (MPS, 1969)
* All Blues (MPS, 1969)
* More Smiles (MPS, 1969)
* Volcano (Polydor 1969)
* Clarke Boland Big Band en Concert avec Europe 1 (Tréma, 1969 [1992])
Com Tadd Dameron
* The Magic Touch (Riverside 1962)
Com Dizzy Gillespie
* The Giant (America, 1973)
* The Source (America, 1973)
* The Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 (Pablo, 1975)
Com Bennie Green
* Glidin' Along (Jazzland 1961)
Com Philly Joe Jones
* Blues for Dracula (Riverside, 1958)
* Look Stop Listen (Uptown, 1983) Com Dameronia
Com Johnny Lytle
* Nice and Easy (Jazzland, 1962)
Com Blue Mitchell
* Big 6 (Riverside 1958)
Com Thelonious Monk
* Thelonious in Action (Riverside 1958)
* Misterioso (Riverside 1958)
Com Bud Powell
* Bud in Paris (1975, Xanadu) (recorded live 1960)
* Earl Bud Powell, Vol. 8: Holidays in Edenville, 64 (Mythic Sound, 1964)
Com A. K. Salim
* Stable Mates (Savoy, 1957)
* Pretty for the People (Savoy, 1957)
Com Ira Sullivan
* Blue Stroll (Delmark, 1961)
Com Clark Terry
* Serenade to a Bus Seat (Riverside, 1957)
Com Wilbur Ware
* The Chicago Sound (Riverside, 1957)
Com Randy Weston
* Little Niles (United Artists, 1958)
Com Wes Montgomery
* Full House (Riverside, 1962)