1968 · Album
Lady Heavy Bottom’s Waltz
Recorded 1959 · Riverside Records · Produced by Orrin Keepnews
The Little Giant Cuts Loose
Griffin swings so hard here it almost sounds effortless, which is the whole point.
By the late 1950s, Johnny Griffin had already established himself as one of the fastest, most combustible tenor players in hard bop — the kind of guy who could make other saxophonists nervous just by warming up. Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz (1959) is a solid, enjoyable record that shows Griffin in comfortable territory: cooking hard with a small group, letting the rhythm section breathe just enough before he swoops back in and takes over. It is not a career-defining statement, but it is a genuinely fun record to spend time with.
The title track is the obvious entry point — a waltz, which Griffin treats less like a ballroom exercise and more like a dare. He plays over the three-quarter time with the kind of casual aggression that was his signature, making the meter feel like a feature rather than a constraint. The rest of the album sticks mostly to straight-ahead swinging, and Griffin's tone — big, slightly ragged at the edges, always insistent — cuts through cleanly on every track. This was a period when Griffin was recording frequently, and you can hear a band that knows what it is doing without overthinking it.
For context, Griffin had done his time with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and was about to begin his celebrated partnership with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. He had also recorded with [Thelonious Monk, which sharpened his ability to work inside unusual harmonic situations. None of that complexity dominates here — this is Griffin having a good time on the bandstand, which turns out to be more than enough. If you are new to him, start with this one and then work backward.
Who's playing
Jimmy Woodebass
Francy Bolandpiano
Johnny Griffintenor saxophone
Sahib Shihabbaritone saxophone
Åke Perssontrombone
Benny Baileybrass
