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J. J. Johnson

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J. J. Johnson

J.J. Johnson (born James Louis Johnson) in Indianapolis, Indiana, (January 22, 1924 - February 4, 2001), was a United States jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.

By his early twenties, Johnson developed a technique characterized by flawless precision, and he was the first trombonist to rise to the challenge of bebop music. He remained essentially unchallenged at the forefront of modern jazz throughout his career. Johnson has long been regarded as the leading trombonist of the Post-Swing Era, exerting a pervasive influence on other jazz musicians.

Johnson was commonly ranked among the first order of modern jazz musicians who came to prominence during the 1940s. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop style, but also worked extensively in other geners, notably in third stream, which blended classical music and jazz. Johnson co-led a quintet with trombonist Kai Winding which toured extensively and recorded several successful albums. Johnson also many solo albums, and was a sideman on many classic jazz recordings. Several of his compositions, including "Wee Dot," "Lament," and "Enigma" are considered jazz standards.

In 1970 he ceased performing in public for most of 17 years, before a comeback in the late 1980s. From the mid 1950's on, Johnson was a perennial polling favorite in jazz circles, even winning "Trombonist of the Year" in Down Beat magazine during years he wasn't active. Voted into Down Beat's Hall of Fame in 1995, J.J. Johnson's recording career spanned 54 years, from 1942 to 1996, when, his health failing, he committed suicide.

Biography

Big bands

After studying the piano beginning at age 9, Johnson decided to play trombone at the age of 14. In 1941, he started his professional career with Clarence Love, and then played with Snookum Russell in 1942. In Russell's band he met the trumpeter Fats Navarro, who influenced him to play in the style of the tenor saxophonist Lester Young. Johnson went on to play in Benny Carter's orchestra between 1942 and 1945 with whom he made his first recordings in 1942 and recorded his first solo (on Love for Sale) in October, 1943. In 1944, he took part in the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert, presented in Los Angeles and organized by Norman Granz. In 1945 he joined the big band of Count Basie, touring and recording with him until 1946.

Bebop

While the trombone was featured prominently in dixieland and swing music, it fell out of favor among bebop and later jazz fusion musicians, largely because instruments with valves and keys (trumpet, saxophone) were more suited to bebop's often rapid tempos and demand for technical mastery. In 1946, Bebop "co-inventor", Dizzy Gillespie encouraged the young trombonist's development with the comment, “I've always known that the trombone could be played different, that somebody'd catch on one of these days. Man, you're elected.” Johnson's work in the 1940s and 1950s defied both musicians and the public's perception that the slide trombone could not keep up in the bebop style. Fellow trombonist Steve Turre has summarized, "J.J. did for the trombone what Charlie Parker did for the saxophone. And all of us that are playing today wouldn't be playing the way we're playing if it wasn't for what he did. And not only, of course, is he the master of the trombone — the definitive master of this century — but, as a composer and arranger, he is in the top shelf as well."

After leaving Count Basie in 1946 to play in small bebop bands in New York clubs, Johnson wound up touring during 1947 with Illinois Jacquet. Also during this period he began recording as a leader of small groups, featuring Max Roach, Sonny Stitt and Bud Powell. His incredible accuracy at manipulating the slide trombone (many people who hadn't seen him play thought he must have been playing a valve instrument), contributed to the acceptance of the instrument in a genre where tempi were often very fast and the melodies very chromatic and rhythmically complex. He was present as a sideman in December, 1947 with Charlie Parker in the Dial Records session following Parker's release from Camarillo.

In 1951, with bassist Oscar Pettiford and trumpeter Howard McGhee, he toured the military camps of Japan and Korea before returning to the United States and taking a day job as a blueprint inspector. Johnson admitted later he was still thinking of nothing but music during that time, and indeed, his classic Blue Note recordings as both a leader and with Miles Davis date from this period. Johnson's compositions Enigma and Kelo were recorded by Davis for Blue Note and J.J. was part of the Davis studio session band that recorded the jazz classic Walkin'.

Jay and Kai

In 1954 producer Ozzie Cadena convinced him to set up a combo with trombonist Kai Winding: the "Jay and Kai Quintet." The trombone styles and personalities of the two musicians, although very different, blended so well that the pairing, which lasted till August, 1956, was a huge success both musically and commercially. They toured U.S. nightclubs constantly and recorded numerous albums before parting amicably, satisfied that they had fully explored (and exploited) their novel group. The duo reunited again in 1958 for a tour of Great Britain, a studio album in 1960 and in 1968-1969 (two albums for CTI/A&M Records). In January 1967, Johnson and Winding were in an all-star line-up (alongside the likes of Clark Terry, Charlie Shavers and Joe Newman) backing Sarah Vaughan on her last-ever sessions for Mercury Records, released as the album Sassy Swings Again, with three of the cuts, including Billy Strayhorn's "Take the "A" Train", being arranged by Johnson himself. The duo also made some jazz festival appearances in Japan in the early 1980s, the last shortly before Winding died in May, 1983.

Solo success

Following the mid-1950s collaboration with Winding, J.J. Johnson began leading his own touring small groups for about 3 years, covering the United States, United Kingdom and Scandinavia. These groups (ranging from quartets to sextets) included tenor saxophonists Bobby Jaspar and Clifford Jordan, cornetist Nat Adderley, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianists Tommy Flanagan and Cedar Walton, and drummers Elvin Jones, Albert "Tootie" Heath, and Max Roach. His album Blue Trombone was recorded at this time. He also toured with the Jazz at the Philharmonic show in 1957 and 1960, the first tour yielding a memorable live album featuring Johnson and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. In 1958-59 Johnson was one of three plaintiffs in a court case which hastened the abolition of the cabaret card system.

This period overlaps a bit with the beginnings of Johnson's serious forays into Third Stream music (see below). Periods of concentrating on writing and recording his music would alternate with tours demanding attention to his playing. Following the six months he spent writing Perceptions (see below), late 1961 found J. J. in the studio for a date which at first might have seemed an odd pairing on paper. Andre Previn's trio (adding Johnson as the only horn) recorded an entire album of the music of Kurt Weill. The inventive arrangements and inspired playing of both stars bore out the producer's foresight, yet this is one of few J.J. Johnson albums which remains unreleased on C.D.. In 1962 J. J. toured for a number of months with Miles Davis' sextet of that year, which went unrecorded. Johnson's 1963 solo album J.J.'s Broadway is an excellent example of both his mature trombone style and sound, and his subtle and impressionist music arranging abilities. 1964 saw the recording of his last working band for a period of over 20 years- Proof Positive. Beginning in 1965 Johnson recorded a number of large group studio albums under his name, featuring many of his own compositions and arrangements. The late 1960s saw a radical downturn in the fortunes of many jazz musicians and Johnson was consequently heard almost exclusively on big band-style studio records, usually backing a single soloist.

The composer

From the mid-fifties, but especially the early sixties on, J.J. Johnson dedicated more and more time to composition. He became an active contributor to the Third Stream movement in jazz music, (which included such other notable musicians as Gunther Schuller and John Lewis), and wrote a number of large-scale works which incorporated elements of both classical and jazz music. He contributed his Poem for Brass to a Third Stream compilation titled Music for Brass in 1957, and composed a number of original works which were performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in the late fifties and early sixties. In 1961, he composed a suite in six movements, titled Perceptions, with Dizzy Gillespie as soloist. The First International Jazz Festival, held in Washington, D.C. in 1962, featured another extended work. In 1965 he spent time in Vienna to perform and record his Euro Suite with a jazz-classical fusion orchestra led by Friedrich Gulda. In 1968, a Johnson work titled Diversions was commissioned by the American Wind Symphony and performed in Pittsburgh.

Hollywood

In 1970, Quincy Jones convinced Johnson to move from New York to California to compose for cinema and television, where he eventually scored movies such as Cleopatra Jones, Across 110th Street and Top of the Heap, as well as TV series such as Starsky & Hutch, Mike Hammer and The Six Million Dollar Man. Despite his small level of success, Johnson acknowledged that racism and other prejudices kept a black jazz musician such as himself from securing the amount and quality of work he was qualified to perform. During this period, he played almost no concerts, except in 1977 and 1982 in Japan, and in 1984 in Europe. Despite the low profile, he did record six albums as a leader between 1977 and 1984 (including a 1984 trombone duo album with Al Grey) and a few albums as a sideman, two with Count Basie, and on The Sting II soundtrack. During the California period he also played in the Coconut Grove orchestra of Sammy Davis, Jr. and the TV orchestra of Carol Burnett.

Return to performing

Johnson returned to performing and recording in November 1987, with an extremely well-received engagement at the Village Vanguard in New York City. Tours of the United States, Europe and Japan followed as well as a return engagement to the Vanguard in July, 1988 which yielded two albums worth of material. While on tour of Japan in December, 1988, Johnson's wife Vivian suffered a stroke which incapacitated her for her remaining three and a half years of life. During this period Johnson cancelled all work, devoting his energy to caring for his ailing wife. After her death in 1991, he dedicated an album to her on Concord. A year later the former Carolyn Reid became his second wife, and Johnson began actively performing once again. Following this second "comeback" in 1992, Johnson's contracts with a variety of record labels, including Verve and Antilles, resulted in five albums as a leader, from small groups to separate brass orchestra and string orchestra recordings, as well as sideman appearances with his leading disciple[1] [2], trombonist Steve Turre and the vocalist Abbey Lincoln. He earned several Grammy nominations during this period. He retired from active performing and touring in late 1996, choosing to stay at home in Indianapolis where he could indulge his passion of composing and arranging music with computers and MIDI.

Later, diagnosed with prostate cancer, he maintained a positive outlook and underwent treatment. He wrote a book of original exercises and etudes for jazz musicians, published later by Hal Leonard. A biography, titled The Musical World of J.J. Johnson, was published in 2000. On February 4, 2001, he committed suicide by shooting himself[3]. His funeral in Indianapolis drew jazz musicians, friends and family from around the country who universally loved and respected the artist and the man.

Discography

Big bands and bebop

  • Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions (Benny Carter Orchestra) (1943) Mosaic 170 (CD)
  • Jazz At The Philharmonic All-Stars- The First Concert (1944) Verve CD 314 521 646-2 (CD)
  • Count Basie and His Orchestra 1945-46 Classics 934 (CD)
  • Coleman Hawkins (1947) PRCD 24124-2 (CD)
  • Illinois Jacquet (1947) Mosaic MD4-165
  • Charlie Parker - the Dial Sessions (1947-49) Stash ST-CD-567/68/69/70 (CD)
  • J.J. Johnson (1947-49) Savoy 151 (CD)
  • Miles Davis- The Birth of the Cool- (1949) Capitol Jazz CDP 592862 (CD)
  • Miles Davis- Walkin' (1954) Presitge Records (CD)
  • J.J. Johnson's Boppers (1949) Fantasy 2531-91-2 (CD)
  • Howard McGhee (1949) BN 7243-4-95747-2-4 (CD)
  • J.J. Johnson with Sonny Stitt (1949) OJC CD009-2 (CD)
  • Jazz South Pacific (recorded in Guam) (1952) Savoy 219 (CD)

Albums Jay and Kai made together as co-leaders

  • Jay and Kai (1954) Savoy SV0163 (CD)
  • An Afternoon at Birdland (1954)
  • Jay and Kai (1954) Prestige
  • 'Nuf Said (1955) Bethlehem 20-40062 (CD)
  • Trombone for Two (1955) Columbia (LP); Collectables (CD)
  • Jay and Kai (the 'alphabet cover') (1955-56) Columbia (out of print)
  • Jay and Kai + 6 (1956) Columbia (LP); Collectables (CD)
  • At Newport (1956) Columbia (out of print)
  • The Great Kai and J. J. (1960) Impulse! MCAD-42012
  • Israel (1968) A&M/CTi (out of print)
  • Betwixt and Between (1968) A&M/CTi (out of print)

J. J. Johnson recordings from the Hollywood period

  • Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Across 110th Street (c. 1972) Rykodisc 10706
  • Count Basie- Basie Jam (1973)
  • Count Basie with Joe Turner- The Bosses (1973) OJCCD 821-2
  • Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Willie Dynamite (1974) Hip-O Select B000362202
  • Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Cleopatra Jones (1974) Warner Bros. B00005B471
  • The Yokohama Concert (w/ Nat Adderley) (1977) Pablo PACD 2620-109-2
  • Chain Reaction: Yokohama Concert, Vol. 2 (1977) Pablo B00006JIAM (released in 2002)
  • Pinnacles (1979) OJC 1006
  • Count Basie- Kansas City 7 (1980) Pablo OJCCD-690-2
  • Concepts in Blue (1980) Pablo OJCCD-735-2
  • Aurex Jazz Festival ’82 All Star Jam (1982) Somethin' Else Classics TOCJ 8021
  • Jackson, Johnson, Brown and Company (1983) Fantasy 2531-907-2
  • J.J. Johnson and Joe Pass- We'll Be Together Again (1983) OJC-CD 745-2
  • Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to The Sting II (1983) (out of print)
  • Things Are Getting Better All The Time (w/ Al Grey) (1984) OJC 745 (CD)

Johnson's later recordings

  • Milt Jackson- Bebop (1988) East West 90991-2
  • Quintergy (1988) Antilles 422-848-214-2
  • Standards (1988) Antilles 314-510-059-2
  • Vivian (1992) Concord 4523
  • Let's Hang Out (1992) Verve 314-514-454
  • Carnegie Hall Salutes the Jazz Masters (1994) Verve 314-523-150
  • Tangence (with the Robert Farnon Orchestra) (1994) Verve 314-526-588-2
  • Steve Turre (1996) Verve 314 537 133-2
  • The Brass Orchestra (1996) Verve 314-537-321-2
  • Heroes (1998) Verve 528 864-2

Bibliography

  • The Musical World of J.J. Johnson by Joshua Berrett and Louis G. Bourgois (Rowman & Littlefield). ISBN 0-8108-3648-3
  • Exercises and Etudes for the Jazz Instrumentalist by J.J. Johnson (Hal Leonard Corporation, February 1, 2002). ISBN 0-634-02120-6
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