Search - Artist/Band: J.J. Johnson

• Name: J.J. Johnson
• Birthday: 01/22/1924
• Birth Place: Indianapolis, IN
• Died: 02/04/2001
• Decades Active: 1940,1950,1960,1970,1980,1990
• Genre: Jazz
• Styles: Bop, Hard Bop, Mainstream Jazz, Third Stream, Modern Big Band
• Moods: Earnest, Earthy, Exuberant, Passionate, Playful, Sophisticated, Amiable/Good-Natured, Brassy, Bravado, Cheerful, Confident, Dramatic, Energetic, Freewheeling, Literate, Lively, Rambunctious, Refined/Mannered, Rousing, Searching, Stately, Stylish, Uncompromising, Warm, Witty, Wry

Title	Release
Complete '60s Big Band Recordings	06/18/2007
Complete Fifties Studio Recordings [J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet]	02/14/2005
A Proper Introduction to J.J. Johnson: Bone-O-Logy W	11/23/2004
Blue Mode	12/04/2002
Origins: The Savoy Sessions	07/16/2002
1946-1949 WA	10/30/2001
Savoy Prestige and Sensation: Complete Early Masters	02/13/2001
Heroes	01/26/1999
1955-1960	10/27/1998
Planet Jazz	10/10/1998
Brass Orchestra WA	09/24/1996
Jay and Kai + 6: The Jay and Kai Trombone Octet	1996
Jay and Kai + 6: The Jay and Kai Trombone Octet/J.J. in Person	10/20/1995
J.J.!	10/16/1995
Be Bop Legends	10/03/1995
Tangence	07/13/1994
Let's Hang Out	12/07/1992
Vivian	06/02/1992
Things Are Getting Better All the Time	11/28/1983
Concepts in Blue	09/23/1980
Pinnacles	09/17/1979
Willie Dynamite	1974
The Total J.J. Johnson	11/30/1966
Broadway Express	12/13/1965
Goodies	07/12/1965
Say When	12/07/1964
Proof Positive	05/01/1964
J.J.'s Broadway	03/12/1963
The Great Kai & J. J. WA	11/04/1960
J.J. Inc.	08/01/1960
Dial J.J.	05/1958
Blue Trombone	04/26/1957
Trombone Master	04/26/1957
Trombone for Two	06/23/1955
The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2	09/24/1954
The Birdlanders	02/1954
The Four Trombones: The Debut Recordings	09/18/1953
The Complete Eminent Jay Jay Johnson	06/22/1953
The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 1	06/22/1953
Trombone by Three	05/26/1949
Jay & Kai [Savoy]	12/24/1947
J. J. Johnson's Jazz Quintets	06/26/1946
Mad Bebop	06/26/1946
Jay and Kai [Columbia]

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 1941-1942, and then spent 1942-1945 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 plenty of solo space during his stay with Count Basie's Orchestra (1945-1946). During 1946-1950, 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 (1947-1949), 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. Johnson, 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 (1952-1954). His fortunes changed when, in August 1954, he formed a two-trombone quintet with Kai Winding that became known as Jay and Kai and was quite popular during its two years.

After Johnson and Winding went their separate ways (they would later have a few reunions), Johnson led a quintet that often included Bobby Jaspar. He began to compose ambitious works, starting with 1956's "Poem for Brass," and including "El Camino Real" and a feature for Dizzy Gillespie, "Perceptions"; his "Lament" became a standard. Johnson worked with Miles Davis during part of 1961-1962, led some more small groups of his own, and by the late '60s was kept busy writing television and film scores. J.J. Johnson was so famous in the jazz world that he kept on winning Downbeat polls in the 1970s, even though he was not playing at all. However, starting with a Japanese tour in 1977, Johnson gradually returned to a busy performance schedule, leading a quintet in the 1980s that often featured Ralph Moore. In the mid-'90s, he remained at the top of his field, but by the late '90s and early into the 2000s, the legendary musician fell ill with prostate cancer, and sadly took his own life on February 4, 2001. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide