Johnny Griffin & Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis - Pisces (1962)
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Genre: Jazz
Dustygroove.com:A lost jazz treasure -- previously unissued material from the mighty 60s pairing of Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Johnny Griffin -- a twin-tenor team that was one of the strongest forces in jazz at the time! The set's a really unusual one in that it has the pair moving away from the hard-wailing "battle" styled sides of some of their live material -- and from the angular modernist Monkish tunes that also represented a side of their sound. Instead, the pair are playing mellow standards and ballads for the set -- kicking back in a warm cloud of soul and sax -- beautifully grooving at an easy pace without losing their sense of soul -- and in some way, really letting the best side of Davis' playing come to light, in a setting that recalls his excellent Love Calls album on RCA. The group's a quintet, with the further added attraction of Horace Parlan making a rare Riverside appearance -- and not just on piano, but also on celeste -- the strange bell-like keyboard that really brings a cool sound to the set! Titles include "Pisces", "What Is There To Say", "Yesterdays", "Willow Weep For Me", "Midnight Sun", "Sophisticated Lady", and "Bewitched Bothered & Bewildered". All tracks previously unissued -- and the CD also features 4 bonus alternate takes!
Allaboutjazz.com:The title track of the Pisces disc is a pleasing Griffin waltz. The rest of the previously unreleased date features his fluid tenor on the ballads ?Willow Weep For Me?, ?She?s Funny That Way? and ?Sophisticated Lady?, each one presented with an equally flawless alternate take. The refined trio of pianist Horace Parlan, bassist Buddy Catlett and drummer Art Taylor is also heard on alternating selections accompanying Griffin?s partner Eddie ?Lockjaw? Davis on ?Midnight Sun?, ?Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered?, ?Yesterdays? and two takes of ?What Is There To Say?. Parlan performs the Davis selections on celeste, providing an additional interesting contrast between the tracks by these two master ballad interpreters.
Allmusic.com:When Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis entered a New York studio with producer Orrin Keepnews on May 3, 1962, they did some things that were unusual for the two-tenor team. They played mostly ballads, they didn't engage in any tenor battles and ? most surprising of all ? they didn't perform together on any of the tunes. Griffin was featured on four songs, Davis on another four. The same rhythm section ? Horace Parlan, bassist Buddy Catlett and drummer Art Taylor ? was always present, but Parlan played piano on the songs featuring Griffin and celeste on the songs featuring Davis. For whatever reason, the performances remained in the can for 42 years; they weren't even mastered until 1966, and they finally saw the light of day when Fantasy released Pisces in 2004. Pisces begs the following question: why, in God's name, would two saxmen who had as strong a rapport as Griffin and Davis not perform together when they were in the studio at the same time? Emphasizing ballads was an excellent idea, but wouldn't it have made more sense for them to do it as co-leaders of a quintet? According to jazz critic Larry Hollis ? who wrote Pisces' informative liner notes ? Griffin and Davis' decision to play separately had to do with the fact that they "didn't want to be stereotyped as merely a two-tenor team." In any event, both saxmen are in good form on this CD, which is enjoyable whether the soloist is Griffin on "Willow Weep for Me" and Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" or Davis on "Midnight Sun" and "Yesterdays." For Griffin and Davis, deciding to play separately on May 3, 1962 was probably a mistake; even so, Pisces is a noteworthy (if less than essential) album that shouldn't have gone unreleased for so long.
Personnel:Johnny Griffin - tenor sax;
Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis - tenor sax;
Horace Parlan - piano, celeste;
Buddy Catlett - bass;
Arthur Taylor - drums
Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York City, May, 3 1962.
Tracks:1 Pisces Griffin 4:13,
2 Midnight Sun Burke, Hampton, Mercer 4:36,
3 Willow Weep for Me Ronell 4:32,
4 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered Hart, Rodgers 3:44,
5 What Is There to Say? Duke, Harburg 3:33,
6 She's Funny That Way Moret, Whiting 4:32,
7 Yesterdays Harbach, Kern 4:16,
8 Sophisticated Lady Ellington, Mills, Parish 4:09,
9 Willow Weep for Me [alternate take] Ronell 4:46,
10 She's Funny That Way [alternate take] Moret, Whiting 4:14,
11 Sophisticated Lady [alternate take] Ellington, Mills, Parish 4:06,
12 What Is There to Say? [alternate take] Duke, Harburg 3:31
