Johnny Griffin
Tenor Sax Solo on
Let's Cool One

About

Johnny Griffin's tenor saxophone solo is the first of two improvisations on this live recording from the Five Spot Cafe. Taking five choruses of the 32-bar AABA form in E-flat at 132 BPM, Griffin burns through Monk's composition with the ferocious energy and technical command that defined his playing. Griffin takes the last two choruses a cappella starting at 4:10, the unaccompanied passages revealing the full force of his tone and the depth of his improvisational resources when stripped of harmonic accompaniment.

Johnny Griffin was 29 to 30 years old at the time.