Results for "J.J. Johnson"

J.J. Johnson

Born: January 22, 1924

Considered by many to be the finest jazz trombonist of all time, J.J. Johnson somehow transferred the innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to his more awkward instrument, playing with such speed and deceptive ease that at one time some listeners assumed he was playing valve (rather than slide) trombone! Johnson toured with the territory bands of Clarence Love and Snookum Russell during 1941-42 and then spent 1942-45 with Benny Carter's big band.

He made his recording debut with Carter (taking a solo on "Love for Sale" in 1943) and played at the first JATP concert (1944). Johnson also had led plenty of solo space during his stay with Count Basie's Orchestra (1945-46). During 1946-50, he played with all of the top bop musicians including Charlie Parker (with whom he recorded in 1947), the Dizzy Gillespie big band, Illinois Jacquet (1947-49) and the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool Nonet.His own recordings from the era included such sidemen as Bud Powell and a young Sonny Rollins. J.J., who also recorded with the Metronome All-Stars, played with Oscar Pettiford (1951) and Miles Davis (1952) but then was outside of music, working as a blueprint inspector for two years (1952-54).

Percy France: Live from the West End

by Daniel Gould
August 27, 2026

 If you know Percy France, most likely you are a fan of “greasy" organ jazz, particularly on Blue Note Records during their classic era. He was an integral part of Jimmy Smith's Home Cookin' (1959) and Freddie Roach's Down to Earth (1962). Or perhaps you came to jazz through r&b acts like the Bill Doggett combo. The ...

Leigh Pilzer: Keep Holding On

by Jack Bowers
June 19, 2026

There are times when the friends you make can make a world of difference. That is certainly true of baritone saxophonist Leigh Pilzer's recording, Keep Holding On, whose trio format--admirable in its own way--is considerably enriched by a quartet of friends and colleagues whose expertise helps brighten even further five of the album's 11 already-impressive numbers. ...

Roswell Rudd: Where Improvisation Lives

by AAJ Staff
May 2, 2026

This article was originally published on All About Jazz in August 2002.All About Jazz met with trombonist and arranger Roswell Rudd in Manhattan to discuss his recent activities and his forthcoming weeklong residency with Steve Lacy at Iridium. Rudd also spoke of his affiliations with Albert Ayler and the still very much alive bassist ...

Joe Magnarelli: Decidedly so

by Jack Bowers
February 6, 2026

Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli has been a bright light on the New York-area jazz scene for four decades, since arriving in the city in 1986 from his native Syracuse, NY. On Decidedly So, his eighteenth recording and third for Cellar Music, Magnarelli ushers a top-drawer quintet through its paces in a pleasing session that encompasses a trio ...

Thelonious Monk with Sonny Rollins 1953 to 1957 Revisited

By Thelonious Monk

Label: ezzthetics
Released: 2025
Track listing: Let's Call This; Think of One; Friday the 13th; Brilliant Corners; Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues Are; Pannonica; Bemsha Swing; Misterioso; Reflections.

The Scott Silbert Quartet: Dream Dancing

by Jack Bowers
December 4, 2025

The year 2025 marks the centenary of the birth of John Haley Sims, known around the world by his singular nickname, Zoot, a colossus of the saxophone who left this world far too soon in March 1985. Yet even though Zoot's physical presence is absent, his insuperable spirit lives on via Dream Dancing, a marvelous tribute ...

Introducing Trombonist/Vocalist Hailey Brinnel

by Sanford Josephson
December 1, 2025

After being discharged from the Army in 1945, Pete Rugolo became the primary arranger for the Stan Kenton Band and is credited with keeping that band alive in an era when big band music was beginning to fade. In 1955, Rugolo created an album combining the vocal group, The Four Freshmen, with an all-star ...

Luna Horns: Afro Space Hotel

by Don Ball
November 30, 2025

Listening to Luna Horns' Afro Space Hotel is like stepping into your neighborhood pub and being overwhelmed by the band playing there, with horns blazing like the Jamaica band The Skatalites and a bassist of the Bootsy Collins variety. This is the debut album by Luna Horns, which was formed in 2023 by Tim Lowerson in Oslo, ...

Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet: Turn It Up!

by Jack Bowers
October 12, 2025

Turn It Up!, the latest recording by organist Mike LeDonne's superb and long-lived Groover Quartet, is actually a two- CD set that reprises concert sessions recorded twenty years apart--the first, You'll See! (Cellar Records, 2004) in Vancouver's now- defunct Cellar Jazz Club, the second,Turn It Up!, in 2024 at Ken Kitchings' The Side Door in Old ...