Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis & Johnny Griffin Quintet – The Tenor Scene (Stereo)

During the two-year existence of their “Tough Tenors” quintet, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (a Prestige artist) and Johnny Griffin (under contract to Riverside/Jazzland) satisfied their contractual obligations by recording five albums for each company. This was the pair’s first for Prestige, and the first of a four-album series taped over the course of an extremely productive evening at the legendary Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. The album, also known as The Breakfast Show in an earlier reissue, gives the rhythm section several opportunities to shine, with Ben Riley’s drums dominant on “Woody’n You,” “Bingo Domingo” featuring Larry Gale’s bass, and Junior Mance’s piano solo almost stealing the show on “Light and Lovely.” It is the leaders, though, who consistently deliver with their complimentary brand of intensity, which is heard at the boil throughout and reaches a particular peak when they exchange ideas on “Straight, No Chaser.”