When it came to tough tenors, Griff and Lock were two of the toughest. Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis gathered a huge coterie of fans drawn to their tandem tenor saxophone recordings and to exciting engagements by their quintet at clubs across the country, from Minton's in Harlem to Leo's Casino in Cleveland to the Crescendo in Los Angeles. Visceral excitement was their stock in trade, and their tenor "battles" are among the memorable jazz encounters of the early 1960s. But these two mighty saxophone warriors had another side-- tenderness. In this previously unreleased session, except for Griffin's medium-tempo title tune, they apply their expressiveness to a collection of ballads. Departing from their customary togetherness, they alternate solo tracks, accompanied by an empathetic rhythm section of pianist Horace Parlan, drummer Art Taylor, and the superb but relatively little known bassist Buddy Catlett. Hidden away for decades, this collection of superior songs is a fine and unexpected addition to the Griffin-Davis discography.

with Horace Parlan, Buddy Catlett, Arthur Taylor

All selections are previously unissued.