1964 · Album
Live! The Midnight Show
Recorded 1961 at Minton's Playhouse · Prestige · Released: 1964
Two Tenors in the Deep Night
Griffin and Davis pushing each other hard, no safety net, just the two of them and what they could make happen.
By 1961, when Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis recorded at Minton's Playhouse, Griffin had already built a solid reputation as a fast, fluent tenor with a sharp ear for melody and a willingness to dig into the harder changes of modern bebop. This wasn't a turning point in his career so much as confirmation of where he already stood — a first-call saxophonist who could hold his own against anyone, anywhere. The real story here is what happens when you put two strong voices in a room with no script and no net.
What makes this session distinctive is the conversation itself. Griffin and Davis were different players with different approaches. Davis leaned into the blues and the grittier side of tenor tradition; Griffin was more cerebral, quicker to explore the upper register and the spaces between the changes. On a live date like this, those differences matter. There's no overdub, no second take to smooth over the rough spots. You hear them listening to each other, responding, sometimes pushing back. The energy stays high because neither one is coasting. This is what Minton's recordings captured best — real musicians working in real time, without the clock ticking on a studio session.
The album arrived on the Prestige label in 1964, three years after it was taped, by which point Griffin's discography had grown considerably. It's not his most essential record, and it's not the place to start if you're new to him. But if you know his work and want to hear him in a setting where he had to be sharp and present every second, this is worth seeking out. It's a solid session from a player at his best.
