Johnny Griffin /Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1975

180-gram double LP

Recorded August 8, 1975 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany; Recorded by NDR Hamburg. Personnel: Johnny Griffin — saxophone; Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis — saxophone; Tete Montoliu — piano; Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen — bass; Art Taylor — drums.

Already in the 1950s some big bands disintegrated while being on tour in the "Old World" — and Paris, London, Stockholm or Copenhagen — in some rarer cases also Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt — became a new home for high-profile jazz stars. The first recording under Johnny Griffin's own name was released in 1956 and four years later he was together with "Lockjaw"-Davis in a rather successful and popular band.

In this respect the concert in Hamburg 15 years later was also a sort of revival. When Davis starts off the second part of the NDR-recording with the master-standard "I Can't Started," followed by "Stompin' At The Savoy" with Griffin and Davis alternating, then it becomes clear what these two musicians appreciated in each other: the partnership in the creative rivalry and cooperation of their voices. Pleasantly and with a lot of air Davis filled the room with sound, crisp and robust was Griffin's reaction. Together they were almost unbeatable.