Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Lonnie Johnson: The Unsung Blues Legend (The Living Room Session)

Lonnie Johnson: The Unsung Blues Legend (The Living Room Session)

By Glenn Astarita
July 1, 2000
View read count

Lonnie Johnson: The Unsung Blues Legend (The Living Room Session)

Born in New Orleans, La. the late and now legendary guitarist-singer-songwriter Lonnie Johnson recorded with Louis Armstrong’s fabled and at the time (1927) - innovative “Hot Five”, while also recording with Duke Ellington and pioneering guitarist Eddie Lang. A brilliant and inspirational guitarist to more than just a few, Johnson didn’t always garner the respect he so well deserved. Interestingly enough, this newly released recording, The Unsung Blues Legend comprises material recorded at jazz and blues devotee, Bernie Strassberg’s living room in Queens, New York - one evening in 1965. Here, Johnson vocalizes and strums his guitar throughout these seventeen tracks, that include – W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”, Bessie Smith’s “Back Water Blues”, Gershwin’s “Summertime” along with two Johnson originals and compositions by Hoagy Charmichael, Earl Hines and others.

Mr. Strassberg recorded Johnson’s performances on a reel-to-reel tape machine, therefore if you’re expecting state of the art digital reproduction than you might be disappointed with this set as the sound quality is so-so at best. Yet, if you are an archivist or ardent Blues collector than this release should serve as an important document and vital addition to your collection. Throughout, Johnson’s ringing, passionate vocals and classy counter-melody style of execution on guitar provides just a glimpse of his enormous yet at times under-recognized talents. Finally, they have created a Lonnie Johnson website (www.lonniejohnson.com) which contains the artist’s discography, transcripts and historical documents as you might also want to check out the “Blues Magnet” website which is: www.bluesmagnet.com

Personnel

Lonnie Johnson

guitar

Album information

Title: The Unsung Blues Legend (The Living Room Session) | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Blues Magnet Records

About Lonnie Johnson

PREVIOUS / NEXT

A Chat With Eric Alexander
< Previous

Meet Carla Bley
Next >

Become a Sustaining Member

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.