Griffith Hiltz Trio - Arcade (GB Records)

At an undisclosed location in a city somewhere in Canada, the highly guarded script for the greatest movie never made was born – featuring pirates, evil robot squids and a heroic one-armed football player. Long time friends and collaborators Nathan Hiltz and Johnny Griffith, spent many post-gig hours creating characters and worlds like the ones they lost themselves in as kids. They brought that sense of adventure into jam sessions and wasn’t long before the Griffith Hiltz Trio was born.

1. Movie Theme III: Transmogrification 00:30

2. Do Not Engage 05:21

3. W.C.W 06:11

4. Roberta's Quest 01:03

5. Ladies from the Eighties 06:49

6. Another Day in Paradise 00:39

7. Paper War (for Mike Post) 05:14

8. Kidnapped by Danger! 00:57

9. Rocket Surgeon 06:05

10. Space Hunter 00:27

11. Thunder Ninja 05:31

12. Play the Game 05:53

13. End of Line 01:17

Johnny Griffith - Alto & Tenor Saxophones/Synthesizers

Nathan Hiltz - Guitar/Bass Pedals

Neil MacIntosh - Drums

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Johnny Griffith Quintet - The Lion, Camel & Child (GB RECORDS December 7, 2018)

Wonderful new modern jazz album from Toronto saxophonist Johnny Griffith and his quintet, entitled The Lion, Camel & Child.  It's the second release from  Griffith’s all-star quintet - a band made up of of four of Toronto’s leading jazz lights, along with the legendary New York trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. 

For this release, Griffith drew inspiration from the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche - speci cally his book Three Metamorphoses. As Griffith explains, “Metamorphoses is concerned with what propels each new phase of human growth, so it seemed fitting to frame this as a suite – each track individual unto itself, yet when listened to as a whole representing the arc of the personal struggle to know more and be more.” 

Central to the album is the suite that illustrates these phases and the qualities that define them: The Lion, virtuous and rebelious; The Camel, courageous and dutiful; and The Child, playful and free of spirit.

Johnny Griffith is a multi-Juno Award nominated saxophonist, composer and producer who has played and recorded with numerous artists including Don Thompson, Hawksley Workman, Jeremy Pelt, Charlie Hunter, The Wailers, Alex Dean, Laila Biali, Al Henderson Quintet, Brandi Disterheft and Terra Hazelton to name a few, and is a member of the popular Canadian funk/hip hop group, the Pocket Dwellers. He has toured extensively across Canada, the United States, and Europe performing at all the major Canadian music festivals as well as several international venues including the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.  

The Johnny Griffith Quintet is the artist’s first solo venture and launched with “Dance with the Lady” in 2015. Featuring NYC’s Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, the album was the featured release on WBGO Jazz radio New Jersey. Johnny continues with the soon to be released “The Lion, Camel and Child”, again with Pelt, previewing at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival 2018.  

In 2015, Johnny created the non-profit independent jazz label G-B Records and has gone on to produce and engineer Nathan Hiltz’s “Songs Poetic”, Whitney Ross-Barris  “Bright Lunch Trio”, Graeme Stephen’s “Projector Trio”, Adrean Farrugia/Joel Frahm’s “Blued Dharma, and Chris Wallace’s “Many Names”.

Johnny is also an active film and television composer. He has composed the scores for the films Still to Go and The Recipe  - both films have appeared in Toronto Film Festival, the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival. He also is a freelance composer for the Bell/CTV media group.

Johnny Griffith  will be releasing The Lion, Camel & Child on Friday, December 7th, 2018 on GB Records.

Johnny Griffith Quintet - The Lion, Camel & Child (GBRECORDS 2018)

Johnny’s second quintet album is coming soon.

Featuring the same great musician’s as Johnny’s 2015 release Dance With The Lady. Jeremy Pelt – Trumpet, Adrean Farrugia – Piano, Jon Maharaj – Bass, Ethan Ardelli – Drums and Johnny on Tenor Saxophone.

The album is once again all of Johnny’s own original compositions with firm roots in the Hard Bop of the 60’s but with a modern twist.

1 The Lion

2 The Camel

3 Cadenza

4 The Child

5 Narcomedusae

6 Strawberry Qwik

7 Amarone

8 For A Derailed Painter

9 Deliciously Ambiguous

10 The Corridor

11 Last Say

Johnny Griffith • Tenor Sax

Jeremy Pelt • Trumpet

Adrean Farrugia • Piano

Jon Maharaj • Bass

Ethan Ardelli • Drums