"Ball Bearing" is a Johnny Griffin original from his 1957 album A Blowing Session, a 32-bar AABA composition in B-flat that provides a vehicle for six of the seven participating musicians to solo. The track opens with John Coltrane's two-chorus tenor saxophone statement, his playing already displaying the relentless harmonic searching that would define his mature style. Lee Morgan follows with two spirited trumpet choruses that crackle with youthful energy. Griffin takes center stage with three extended choruses that demonstrate his extraordinary facility and melodic invention at the medium-up tempo of approximately 208 beats per minute. Hank Mobley's two tenor saxophone choruses bring a cooler, more relaxed sensibility that provides welcome contrast to the surrounding intensity. Wynton Kelly contributes two choruses of swinging piano improvisation, his block chords and single-note lines embodying the quintessential hard bop keyboard approach. Art Blakey rounds out the solo sequence with a brief half-chorus drum statement, his explosive energy providing an exclamation point. The presence of three tenor saxophonists and a trumpet creates the potential for both comparison and contrast, and the track delivers on both fronts, as each horn player's individual personality emerges clearly despite sharing the same instrument and the same set of chord changes. The result is a vivid portrait of hard bop's diversity within its shared musical language.
