Blues Up & Down
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin were one of several two-tenor tandems working in jazz in the 1950s and '60s. Other prominent pairings were the bop-blues combo ofGene AmmonsandSonny Stittand theLester YoungdisciplesZoot SimsandAl Cohn. Even Ammons and Stitt, though, would be hard-pressed to match the high-spirited swing that Davis and Griffin could generate, tearing into their often riff-based tunes with energy that could match a good big band.This CD combines two of their Jazzland LPs--Blues Up and Downfrom 1961 andGriff & Lockfrom 1960--for nearly 78 minutes of infectious music. While they swing with equal ferocity and share big sounds, they're seldom hard to distinguish. Davis was a major contributor to the Basie band and he could apply breathy, bluesy inflections to every note in a phrase. Griffin, by then a sideman toThelonious MonkandArt Blakey, could spin out bop lines at breathtaking speeds. Highlights include "Walkin'," the hard-swinging "Last Train from Overbrook," and the concluding "Good Bait" with the tenors exchanging snippets of the theme, but the ebullient spirits are present throughout. Larry Gales and Ben Riley play bass and drums on both sessions (this was a working band) with Junior Mance the pianist on the earlier session, Lloyd Mayers on the later one.--Stuart Broomer