Search - Johnny Griffin :: Club This!

One of the Hardest Swinging Organ Combo Albums Ever ! ! !

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 10/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Featuring Paul Bryant on organ, a very subdued Joe Pass (barely heard, but when he is, as tasty as chicken soup), Jimmy Bond on bass and Doug Sides on drums, this album swings in the painful sense of the word. Johnny Griffin's deep, warm, soulful, fluid and groovin' tone aside, Paul Bryant takes some of the richest and tastiest sounding organ solos probably ever laid down in any studio... in particular he's a master at chordal style soloing... but can also lay down the bop and gospel as well... much "cooler" than Milt Buckner, and leading more towards Johnny Hammond Smith you can hear, smell and feel the double Leslie spinnin on behind Johnny Griffin who takes you straight to heaven. Grab This *is* aptly titled... it *is* something you should grab... a collection of fantastic mid-tempo grooves recording in the summer of '62 and produced by the great Orrin Keepnews, this CD is Griffin's first recording with an organ combo that walks a rewardingly fine line between "soul Jazz" and heavy swing. Griffin outdoes himself on each cut, and if Offering Time doesn't make you want to get out the tamborine and movin' around or These Foolish Things don't want to make you make love, the answer is simple... yuh' ain't got no soul. This CD is a must have ! Also check out Freddy Roach's Good Move and Johnny Hammond Smith's Black Coffee if you dig this sound."

Worth grabbing.

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 04/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like "The Congregation" this is another soul session starting out with a gospel/blues tune in F and following up with more of the same. It's a cut above "The Congregation," however, because of Paul Bryant's organ, which is a nice complement to Griffin's sound, and the exceptional tastefulness and melodic inventiveness of Joe Pass, who is not your "usual" organ guitar player. In fact, I've never heard a more invisible but contributing guitarist, Freddie Greene included. The main downside is Bryant's instrument: whatever's he's playing it sounds more like a simulated Hammond B3 than the real thing.



Perhaps Pass's influence is the difference, because Griffin's tone is equally expressive at soft and loud dynamic levels, maintaining a strongly supported, vibrant glow during the less heated passages. As a result, even a tiresome, overplayed chestnut like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" is relatively enjoyable--for the most part. (As a piano player, I wince every time someone calls the tune.)



As is the case on other Griffin sessions, the tempos have a tendency to gravitate to the same mid-up tempo groove. The fourth tune represents a bit of a breather, since it's a 6/8 gospel groove, and the ballad, "These Foolish Things," is taken at an appropriately slow tempo (Griff is one of the few players who likes his ballad tempos up, thereby nullifying the point of inserting a ballad in the program). The closer, "Cherry," is bright and spritely, with plenty of Griffin pyrotechnical fire, though given this performer's unique strengths it would have been nice to have included one real "burner.""