More to Griffin Than Just Fast Sax Playing

For years, the considerable reputation of the exceptional tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin was based mainly around his ability to play stunningly fast. From songs such as “Cherokee” on his first recording, 1956’s “Introducing” on Blue Note Records, to “Hot Sake” on his 1990 Antilles album, “The Cat,” Griffin tore up the tunes, delivering sprinting lines that sizzled the ears.

Griffin, now celebrating his 50th year in jazz, makes his first L.A. appearance in several years Tuesday through April 23 at the Jazz Bakery. He insists that he was always concerned with more than playing fast and that, despite his proclivity for peals of notes, he’s a romanticist at heart.

“Everybody called me a race horse, but feeling good is my thing,” says Griffin, who turns 67 on April 24. “Art Blakey (with whom he performed and recorded) used to say to me, ‘You fire that (saxophone) like it’s a machine gun.’ I’d say, ‘Yeah, man, but those are pellets of love.’ ”

And while Griffin says that he still keeps up-tempo songs in his repertoire, you won’t find any on his new “Chicago, New York, Paris” on Verve Records (see accompanying review F28). The tunes are mostly middle tempos, with, naturally, some ballads.

“That was just something I felt,” says Griffin, referring to the pace of the session that was recorded in December in New York. “There was nothing to prove, that’s for sure. The material was supposed to be representative of the three locations. I spent my life mainly in Chicago, New York and Paris. It was there (in France) that I digested the lessons I had learned in the U.S., where I learned to relax, take my time and enjoy life.”

In his hometown of Chicago, Griffin heard his first idol, Ben Webster, with Duke Ellington’s orchestra. “I’d stand at the back of the Regal Theater, and his sound was so big, I could hear him over that band and without a microphone,” he recollects.

At 17, Griffin joined Lionel Hampton’s band. “Hamp was on top then, and you had to be able to play,” he says. “He loved power, and the power to excite.”

Griffin moved to New York in 1950, where he ultimately worked and recorded with Blakey, Thelonious Monk and many others. For a while, pianists Monk, Bud Powell and Elmo Hope took Griffin under their wing. “They loved each other,” he says. “They had so much respect for each other. I’d walk the streets of Harlem with them every day. That was my education.” (Griffin appears in the Clint Eastwood-produced documentary “Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser.”)

Dissatisfied with life in the United States, both personally and musically, Griffin moved to Europe in 1963 and has, for the last 11 years, lived with his wife, Miriam, in western France.

He works as much as he wants on the Continent and returns to the States once a year.

At the Bakery, Griffin will be accompanied by a fine rhythm section of Michael Weiss (piano), Kenny Washington (drums) and John Webber (bass).

Information: (310) 271-9039.

*

Corea in Monterey: Chick Corea’s quartet with Bob Berg and John Patitucci, the Lee Ritenour-Dave Grusin all-stars, Toots Thielemans’ Brazil Project, Maria Schneider’s big band and the John Scofield quartet with Eddie Harris are some of the artists scheduled for the 38th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, being held Sept. 15-17 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds.

Information: (408) 373-3366.

Highlights of last year’s festival can be heard on “JazzSet” with Branford Marsalis, which airs in Los Angeles on KPCC-FM (89.3) on Tuesdays, 10-11 p.m. Next Tuesday, saxman David Sanchez’s quartet is featured, as is the world premiere of Billy Childs’ “Concerto for Piano and Jazz Chamber Orchestra,” which was commissioned by festival producer Tim Jackson.

“He wanted a kind of classical piece with a larger ensemble, so, since I had been listening to a piece by Hindemith for strings and brass, I wanted to do something like that,” Childs said. He added a rhythm section to give the work additional jazz flavor.

A week later, on April 24, “JazzSet” continues its Monterey theme with performances by singer-pianist Shirley Horn and bassists Ray Brown and Christian McBride, also from last year’s festival.

Information: (818) 585-7000.