Griff ‘n’ Jaws – the ultimate tough tenor tandem, a powerhouse pairing who could take any audience (or rhythm section) on a wild ride towards pure jazz nirvana. Beloved by old school jazz fans, these days this is a partnership in real danger of falling off the radar of younger listeners. This splendid rescue job, taken from couple of previously unissued radio broadcasts from Seattle’s Penthouse club (three years later torn apart on Coltrane’s Live in Seattle album) should go some way to redressing this oversight. Indeed, this is the tenor twosome at close to their collective best. Nothing here is earth-shattering but that’s the point; this is core values jazz at its finest with highlights coming thick and fast, each man dispatching solos on the blues (‘Blues Up and Down’) and ‘rhythm’ changes (‘Ow!’) that are very nearly definitive, the younger Griffin all boppy energy, his elder partner R&B-ish and ceaselessly exciting.

It’s not all sweat and swagger though. Griffin does a nice line in balladry on ‘Sophisticated Lady’ and there’s a subtler than-you-might-expect version of ‘Bahia’, then doing the rounds on the Getz/Byrd Jazz Samba album. Ah, 1962 – what saxophonic riches you gifted us!

As for the rhythm section, some observers might see them as workhorses unremittingly flogged by two harsh taskmasters. To these ears they seem like they’re having a ball, with Parlan’s pithy outing on the opening track containing plenty of joyous sounding signature licks.

In superb sound, lovingly packaged and playing like a genuine two-set gig, Ow! Live at The Penthouse is music sure to delight those with a taste for the real stuff.