Jazz Articles about Johnny J Rivera

Take Five With Johnny J Rivera

by AAJ Staff
November 28, 2009

Meet Johnny j Rivera:Johnny (j) Rivera is a guitarist/songwriter, multi instrumentalist, and vocalist originally from Southern California, currently living in Las Vegas Nevada. He's been writing songs most his life. Some of his influences range from Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Heatwave, Steely Dan, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Paul Jackson Jr, Joe Sample, Donnie Hathaway, The Winans, Albert King, Al Jarreau, Michael Franks, The Beatles, and Miles Davis. A songwriter of instinct, Johnny draws from personal experience, ...

Tom Dempsey / Tim Ferguson: What's Going On?

by Michael P. Gladstone
May 12, 2008

The New York-based team of guitarist Tom Dempsey and bassist Tim Ferguson has been playing as a duo over the course of the past twenty years. It is, indeed, a shame that knowledge of the quality of this music appears to be a state secret.

Their collaborative What's Going On? provides not only a keen display of their playing ability, but quite a diverting set list. The pair opens with Hank Jones' “Interface," then slide into Marvin Gaye's ...

Tom Dempsey/Tim Ferguson: What's Going On

by Karen Hogg
February 13, 2008

What's Going On?, the duo CD from guitarist Tom Dempsey and bassist Tim Ferguson, is a winning combination of standards and originals in a most intimate setting. The pair has played together for almost two decades and this is evident by the intuitive way they support each other throughout the album. The duo chose an eclectic mix of tunes for the CD: “Interface," a great soloing vehicle by Hank Jones; the grooving classic Marvin Gaye title track ...