Smoke Stack

"Smoke Stack" is a twelve-bar blues composed by tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin for his 1957 Blue Note album A Blowing Session. The tune takes a mid-tempo approach to the blues form, blending bebop vocabulary with rhythm and blues undertones to create a feel that is more deliberate and grounded than Griffin's faster originals from the same session. The head melody is introduced by piano before the horns enter, building into a full ensemble statement that sets up extended solo passages. The composition was recorded on April 6, 1957, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, with a remarkable group of musicians: Griffin, John Coltrane, and Hank Mobley on tenor saxophones, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. Coltrane's participation was unplanned, as Griffin spotted him on the street near the studio and invited him to join the date, making this their only recorded appearance together. The session produced two takes of "Smoke Stack," with the alternate take appearing on the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder remaster of the album. Like the other Griffin originals from A Blowing Session, "Smoke Stack" has not entered the standard jazz repertoire and remains tied to this recording. It is valued by hard bop enthusiasts for the quality of its ensemble and its relaxed but purposeful blues feel, which provides contrast to the more hard-charging material on the album.