J.J. Johnson

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).

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 J.J. and Kai 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 1961-62, led some 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 DOWN BEAT polls in the 1970s even though he was not playing at all! However, starting with a Japanese tour in 1977, J.J. gradually returned to a busy performance schedule, leading a quintet in the 1980s that often featured Ralph Moore.

Your Favorite Jazz Trombonists

by Michael Ricci
April 24, 2024

Member votes were tabulated and this list represents our favorite jazz trombonists. Fully transparent and easily verifiable, All About Jazz's favorite trombonists poll was conducted during the 2023-2024 calendar year and ran up through April 23, 2024. We want to thank every member who participated in creating this impressive list (100 total!) for the next generation of jazz enthusiasts to discover. 1J.J. Johnson2Bill Watrous3Curtis Fuller4Steve Turre5Bob Brookmeyer6Kai Winding7Slide Hampton8Trombone Shorty9Frank Rosolino10Tommy Dorsey11Grachan Moncur III12Ray Anderson13Julian Priester14Roswell Rudd15Robin Eubanks16Jimmy ...

Liner Notes

Raul De Souza: Colors

by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
January 17, 2024

Raul De Souza's life can be seen as a one-of-a-kind story. Indeed, it would make a perfect novel or film script. It may not be as big a tragedy as 'Round Midnight or Bird, but it has drama, love, adventure, and great music. Picture this: a poor child grows up in Brazil working as a weaver and practicing trombone in conversations with a buffalo in the jungle, dreaming of someday becoming an internationally famous jazzman. Suddenly, this dream ...

Album Review

Various Artists: The Birth of Bop

Read "The Birth of Bop" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
May 3, 2023

Someone famously called jazz the sound of surprise, but all too often, what is on offer is the dull hum of routine. Or something like that. This historic reissue is, however, anything but routine. This is not the first time that Teddy Reig's Savoy sides have been reissued (was he also the mysterious Buck Ram listed as producing one track?), but Craft Recordings took a lot of trouble to produce this very fine selection. If a listener were, ...

Album Review

Joe Henderson: The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions

Read "The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
November 22, 2021

If an artist stamps his jazz passport with any one of these labels--Blue Note, Verve, Milestone--it's pretty much a guarantee that you've arrived in style. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson has traveled with all three and more. The 2021 reissue from the prestigious Mosaic Records focuses on Henderson's 1960s tenure with Blue Note offers a new opportunity to experience an abundance of rich and creative jazz from the decade. Big band and bop were duking it out in the ...

Radio & Podcasts

Big Ten Inch Record

by Patrick Burnette
April 18, 2019

As the great Sigmund Freud said, sometimes an EP is just an EP. In this case, actually, it's six EP's, as the boys look at that chimera of the early LP era, the ten-inch long-playing record, focusing on releases from the early to mid-nineteen fifties on Blue Note and Fantasy, along with a Resonance Records' Record Store Day release of archival guitar music recorded in mid-fifties Indianapolis but not released until the twenty-first century. Much musing about the special flavor ...

Radio & Podcasts

Jazz & Soundtracks

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 26, 2019

Jazz has had a very close relationship with cinema and TV. To be perfectly frank in this relationship cinema and TV have not as generous as jazz has been towards cinema. Jazz has been only sporadically covered by quality movies. When that has happened the quantity of stereotypies and clichés about jazz spoiled them for any serious fun. Nevertheless, jazz musicians have made great contributions to soundtracks (from Duke Ellington's music for Otto Preminger's “Anatomy ...

Interview

J.J. Johnson: An Eminent Life in Music

by Victor L. Schermer
April 1, 2015

This interview with trombonist J.J. Johnson along with Joshua Berrett and Louis G. Bourgois III, authors of his biography, The Musical World of J.J. Johnson (Scarecrow Press) was first published at All About Jazz in November 1999. All About Jazz: Congratulations to Josh and Louis on your new book--and to J.J. for now having a scholarly reference devoted to your outstanding contributions to music. Just for the fun of it, which three recordings and/or scores would you take ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: J.J. Johnson

Source: Michael Ricci
January 22, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating J.J. Johnson's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: J.J. Johnson

Source: Michael Ricci
January 22, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating J.J. Johnson's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: J.J. Johnson

Source: Michael Ricci
January 22, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating J.J. Johnson's birthday today!

Video / DVD

J.J. Johnson and Bobby Jaspar

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 5, 2020

Tropical storm Isaias blew into New York around 11 a.m. yesterday, whipped things around and split at about 3 p.m. When it did, the sun came out and the 35-mph gusts began, cooling things off a bit. For some reason, I craved J.J. Johnson and his distinct, muffled trombone sound. The albums I turned to were the three he made with the Belgian woodwind player Bobby Jaspar. On J Is for Jazz (1956), Dial J.J. 5 (1957) and Live at ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: J.J. Johnson

Source: Michael Ricci
January 22, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating J.J. Johnson's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: J.J. Johnson

Source: Michael Ricci
January 22, 2019

Video / DVD

J.J. Johnson: Broadway Express

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 26, 2018

Back in the 1960s, jazz guitarist Mundell Lowe was busy. In addition to recording as a leader and sideman, he arranged and conducted sessions for his own band and for others, always with enormous taste. His albums as an arranger, conductor and player included Satan in High Heels (1961), a film score; Hey! This is Kevin Gavin (1962); Jerry Winters Again (1962); Alice Darr (1962); The Happiness of Joe Mooney (1963); The Greatness of Joe Mooney (1963); and two tracks ...
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