Jazz Articles about Jeff Johnson

like 324

Jeff Johnson: Tall Stranger

by John Barron
October 21, 2008

Bassist Jeff Johnson has built a stellar reputation in jazz circles, having worked with pianists Hal Galper and Jessica Williams and appearing on over two-dozen recordings for Origin Records. For his fourth release as a leader, Tall Stranger, the Seattle-based Johnson, along with saxophonist Hans Teuber and drummer Billy Mintz, delivers an intriguing set of stripped-down compositions, emphasizing a free-form approach to group improvisation.

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Jeff Johnson: Near Earth

by Dan McClenaghan
July 21, 2004

The trio format without a chording instrument (a guitar or keyboard) tends to loosen the atmosphere, giving the music a more fluid feel. Bassist Jeff Johnson, joined by saxophonist Hans Teuber and drummer Tad Britton, achieves a compelling chamber-like fluidity on Near Earth.Teuber's tenor saxophone approach here has a clean, clear, bracingly cool feel on its interplay with with Johnson's round bass lines and the intricate textures from Britton's drum kit. He floats up in the higher register ...

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John Bishop/Jeff Johnson/Rick Mandyck/John Stowell: Scenes

by Dave Nathan
January 1, 2002

With this Origin label release, the fruitful Northwest music scene continues to manifest high caliber jazz music sessions. This time it's the 8 year-old trio of John Bishop, Jeff Johnson and Rick Mandyck enhanced by guitarist John Stowell, for more than an hour of modern and progressive jazz. The play list is certainly an attractive one combining three originals with standard and jazz classics. Stowell. who worked with David Friesen for seven years, plays a clean lined guitar avoiding smears, ...

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Jeff Johnson: The Art of Falling

by Jason West
December 1, 2001

I like living with CDs. I like to leave them in the player for a week or two and see how they grow. I'm not worried if, at first, I don't hear everything that's going on. Just as long as there's something - a few magnetic bars, a particularly firey exchange, a pregnant moment in the music - that demands another listen. So it is with The Art of Falling.

The phrase that hooked me comes at the hands of ...

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John Bishop/Jeff Johnson/Rick Mandyck/John Stowell: Scenes

by Joseph Blake
December 1, 2001

Guitarist John Stowell's liner notes to this recently released CD makes Scenes sound almost serendipitous. He writes that “I suggested that we make a little music and turn on the tapes if we liked the chemistry...We did a couple of gigs in Seattle and went into the studio for a couple of sessions."

Stowell and drummer John Bishop produced the two sessions recorded at Seattle's Ironwood Studios. They showcase the quartet's very democratic approach on a repertoire including Tom Harrell's ...

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Jeff Johnson: Free

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2000

It’s hard to be more spontaneous than this. A live show for radio broadcast, played without benefit of rehearsal. The numbers were called from the stage, many played for the first time. (Some had never been heard by their composers!) And one piece is totally improvised, existing only that moment, then captured on tape. Apt is the drowning man on the cover; music like this is swim or fail. Most of it swims; the textures weave as soft voices react ...