The Griffith Hiltz Trio

“With uncommon telepathy… they write memorable themes rooted in the blues and bop, playing off one another with total confidence”

Johnny Griffith and Nathan Hiltz, longtime friends and creative collaborators, were on to something when they incorporated the bass pedals that had been gathering dust in Johnny’s basement into their weekly jam session. Inspired by their curiosity of using vintage technology to replicate an organ’s place in a trio, these fearless multi-instrumentalists began to co-create and something truly unique was born.

The Griffith Hiltz Trio takes the term ‘multi-tasking’ to the extreme. Each member masterfully contributes to the groove on more than one instrument, simultaneously, to produce a beautifully layered musical tapestry and making this trio sound much larger than it actually is. Nathan Hiltz (formerly of the Pocket Dwellers), is the most promising Canadian guitarist of this generation, soft-shoes his way across an array of bass pedals with the deftness of Gene Kelly. The spirit of Rashaann Roland Kirk is channeled through the daring multi-reed explorer Johnny Griffith and the ever tasteful, precise, and supportive Sly Juhas seems incapable of playing anything that isn’t "right on the money!"

Together they incorporate not only the influence of Blue Note legends of the ‘60’s like Horace Silver, Lee Morgan and Herbie Hancock, but also Celtic, Norse and Eastern motifs, to create a melodic jazz that is at once familiar and exotic. Their debut album, Now and Then, produced by and featuring Canadian jazz icon Don Thompson, was released in July 2009 to much acclaim and was voted the #1 Jazz Album of 2009 by Jazz FM in Toronto.