Johnny Griffin
April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008
Known as the “Little Giant,” Johnny Griffin was a tenor saxophonist of the bop and hard bop idioms of jazz. Griffin began playing music while in school, and was playing in a band with T-Bone Walker while still in high school. Shortly after graduation, he joined Lionel Hampton’s band. He was just 17. In 1956, he began recording a series of landmark jazz albums for the storied Blue Note label. Over the course of his career, he has played or recorded with such icons as Art Blakey, Wes Montgomery, Nat Adderley, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane. Johnny Griffin died of a heart attack just four days after what would be his last concert. He was 80 years old.
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