Jazz Articles about James P. Johnson

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Lost and Found, Part 4: James P. Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald, Lennie Tristano & Hasaan Ibn Ali

by Larry Slater
October 31, 2025

This is the fourth and final hour of recent historic jazz discoveries. There are some amazing and inspiring stories of jazz sleuths who pulled out all the stops to discover long-lost music. The story of James P. Johnson's lost manuscripts ranks right up there with the most dedicated jazz archeologists. James P. Johnson is best known as the inventor of stride piano and the composer of the singular piece of music that came to symbolize the 1920s in ...

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Up In Harlem - Stride (1921 - 1939)

by Russell Perry
December 12, 2018

In the last hour, we listened to several of the bands associated with New York, with an emphasis on the new large ensemble form, the jazz orchestra. In this hour we'll stick with New York, but focus in on the piano music of Harlem—"Stride." We are joined in this hour by Art Wheeler, pianist, producer, composer and educator. In his History of Jazz, Ted Gioia writes, “It is not going too far to suggest that piano was to ...

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Newk with Bud, a Trip in the Way-Back Machine & More

by Marc Cohn
November 16, 2018

We start with our usual dose of twenty-first century music (Marsico should be better known in the States!). And there's a quiz for you in tracks two and three; so pay attention! Then, it's 19-year-old Sonny Rollins with Bud Powell from '49, followed by a walk in the Fall air where the original French lyrics to “Autumn Leaves" yield to a compare and contrast with Herbie Hancock (with Miles) versus Keith Jarrett. Classic sounds from years ...

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Earl Hines, Pete Johnson and James P. Johnson: Reminiscing at Blue Note – 1939-43

by Marc Davis
February 9, 2016

In the beginning, there was the piano--if not in jazz generally, then definitely at Blue Note Records. From the start, Blue Note founder Alfred Lion was obsessed with the piano. Blue Note's very first recordings, in 1939, were 19 tunes by boogie-woogie pianists Meade “Lux" Lewis and Albert Ammons. You can hear them all on one fabulous CD called The First Day. Later that same year, Lion recorded more piano favorites by all-time greats Earl “Fatha" ...

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James P. Johnson: The Original James P. Johnson: 1942-1945 piano solos

by Mike Neely
December 1, 2001

The Original James P. Johnson goes a long way toward summing up the early history of jazz piano. The early jazz singer Ethel Waters stated, “ All the hits you hear, now as then, originated with musicians like James P. Johnson . . . the rest of the hot piano boys . . . just followers and protegees of that great man, Jimmy Johnson."

This superb disc of Johnson piano solos was recorded by Smithsonian Folkways, from 1942 to1945. There ...