| The complete long unavailable album JAZZ
A CONFRONTO, recorded by the Johnny
Griffin Quartet for the legendary HORO label
in Rome during 1974.
As a bonus, “The Pasta Parade”, a tune based
on Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band”, which
completes the original session. It had only
originally appeared on a compilation LP.
Tired of being underappreciated in the United States, many important
American jazz musicians moved to Europe for extended parts of
their careers. Johnny Griffin went to live in Europe in 1963. First
he established himself in France, where he played with his fellow
expatriate, Bud Powell, on several occasions. Griffin relocated to
the Netherlands in 1978. The album included here was made for
the Italian label Horo during those years in Europe. Recorded in
Rome, Italy, Griffin is featured here in a quartet format backed by
renowned Italian pianist Franco D’Andrea, bassist Giovanni
Tommaso and drummer Bruno Biriaco. According to discographies,
these are Griffin’s only known recordings with either D’Andrea or
Biriaco. Oddly enough, the Jazz a Confronto LP by Johnny Griffin
seems to be (according to all discographies) the only existing
testimony of his playing during all of 1974.
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