Fred Griffin

Like many of his jazz confrères, Fred Griffin was nurtured on a diet of jazz as a child by his father's love of jazz and his mother's love of R&B and the blues. Growing up in Detroit, he was exposed to those fine jazz performers which the Motor City area spawned the likes of Tommy Flanagan, Milt Jackson, and Thad Jones and many other jazz luminaries. Griffin began performing seriously as a jazz artist in the U.S. Air Force, playing with a service band. After getting out of the service, he formed his own quartet which now makes its base in Southern California. In 1999, it won a national contest to open for the group the Eagles. Over the years, Griffin has shared the stage with many a jazz notable, including Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, and Oscar Brown Jr. Brown's first album Intimate Strangers, released in 2000, reveals him as a tenor player with a style similar to Dexter Gordon, possessing a strong extroverted intensity with a rich vibrant sound. He makes that style work with sentimental ballads as well as with jazz standards and up-tempo material. Griffin continues to work in the Southern California area at gigs and other jazz events. He continues to seek out opportunities to move up the ladder of his chosen profession, jazz. ~ Dave Nathan, Rovi