Artist Name: Johnny Griffin Artist Biography: Chicago-born (4/24/28) Johnny Griffin, otherwise known as ³The Little Giant,² has long been recognized as ³the fastest gun alive² because of his remarkable agility on the tenor saxophone, emitting streams of notes with incredible speed and precision. Since the mid-´50s Griffin has been one of the top bop-oriented tenors in jazz, gaining early experience in the bands of Lionel Hampton (´45-´47) and jamming with Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. After moving from his hometown to New York in 1956, Griffin cut a string of fine records for Blue Note (including A Blowing Session) a three-way tenor battle between him, John Coltrane and Hank Mobley), played with Art Blakey´s Jazz Messengers, and settled into Thelious Monk´s ´58 Quartet, tearing through the pianist´s complex songbook with grace and ease. From ´60-´62 Griffin co-led a ³tough tenor² group with Eddie ³Lockjaw² Davis at his side. In ´63 he emigrated to Europe, where he became a fixture on the Paris scene, leading his own bands and as a featured soloist in the Kenny Clarke(Francy Boland Big Band. Griffin settled in the Netherlands in ´73 but retired to France in ´80; since then he has visited the U.S. annually and recorded for Atlantic, Steeplechase, and Verve. E-mail:   Web Site: