Johnny Griffin, 80; Sax Player Known for Hard, Fast Sound

He later spent three years with trumpeter Joe Morris's rhythm and blues group touring the East Coast, while participating in high-octane jam sessions featuring Monk and pianist Bud Powell.

In the early 1950s, he played with an Army band in Hawaii and settled in Chicago after his discharge. He made several early records as a leader, including " Johnny Griffin" (1956).

After working with the Jazz Messengers in 1957, he played a four-month gig the next year with Monk's quartet, which he found exhilarating but ultimately frustrating.

"I mean, trying to express yourself, because his music, with him comping [accompanying], is so overwhelming, like it's almost like you're trying to break out of a room made of marshmallows," Mr. Griffin told interviewer Ben Sidran. "Any deviation, one note off, and you sound like you're playing another tune, and you're not paying attention to what's going on."

In the early 1960s, he led a quintet with saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, with whom he was often featured in dueling sax solos. Later that decade, he became principal soloist in the Clarke-Boland Big Band, one of Europe's leading all-star jazz groups of that period. Thereafter, Mr. Griffin thrived on the international concert circuit. Based in Availles-Limouzine for the past 18 years, he had also continued to tour, record and lead small groups whose members have included pianist Ronnie Mathews, drummer Kenny Washington and bassist Ray Drummond.

"I enjoy life, man," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1987 during one of his occasional visits to play in the United States. "I feel fortunate that I'm usually around nice, positive-thinking people. I can't imagine being around a bunch of grumpy cats, fussin' and fightin'.

"My band -- we're all friends, like a big family up there on stage, havin' fun," he said. "I think that lightens the burden of some of the situations that you find [in life] and helps people who listen in some way."