John Fedchock: Justifiably J.J.

J.J. Johnson saved his instrument from possible obscurity. Rarely used as a front-line instrument pre-Johnson, the trombone might have faded away when bebop came along. Bebop—all those rapid-fire notes from trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. At that time, the trombone was considered too cumbersome to navigate the chord changes and the rhythmic fury of the new music. J.J. Johnson proved otherwise, starting with several recording dates for Prestige and Savoy Records from 1946 to 1949.

Johnson went on to enjoy a successful career—standing out as a composer/arranger as well a player, culminating with the The Brass Orchestra (Verve, 1997) and Heroes (Verve, 1999).

So who better to nod to Johnson on the jazz master's centennial year than John Fedchock. The New York-based trombonist was—as are virtually all players of the instrument—influenced by J.J. Johnson, so he decided to celebrate his hero's legacy by playing a show featuring the master's compositions, live in the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis, where Johnson was born and where he died. An album of the recording of the material was not in the original plan. But that changed—and now we have John Fedchock fronting a first-rate Indianapolis rhythm section on Justifiably J.J..

Johnson excelled in any lineup configuration, large or small. But the quartet—horn in front of a rhythm section—was a lineup he explored often, with First Place and Blue Trombone, both released on Columbia Records in 1957, andProof Positive, (Impulse, 1964). Justifiably J.J. borrows the cover design motif from Proof Positive, and also one of Johson's. tunes from the album, "Lullaby Of Jazzland."

The "live show" aspect of Justifiably J.J., one in which there was no expectation of turning the tapes into an album, lends a relaxed, good time, go-for-it feel to the proceedings. Other turns from the Johnson songbook here are "Naptown U.S.A," "Lament," one of Johnson's most familiar compositions, and "Ten 85," borrowed from the Trombone Master's last—and the best, of his small combo recordings—Heroes (Verve, 1999). It is fine way to wrap up a spirited nod to a legend.