Mike Kehoe

MUSE 250
Brass Artist Research Project
This project focuses on both my current instrument (trombone) and my least
studied area of music (jazz). In the search for famous jazz trombonists, J.J. Johnson
appeared repeatedly. Often considered one of the greatest jazz trombonists of all time,
James Louis (J.J.) Johnson was born in Indianapolis on January 22nd, 1924. He ushered
in a new era of bebop music, working with renowned artists such as Dizzy Gillespie,
Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.
Johnson first began on piano, not moving to trombone until high school.
Ironically, he had wanted to play saxophone and did not originally want to play the
trombone. He first began performing with territory bands in the first half of the 1940s,
only four years after he had started playing trombone. He got opportunities to perform
with renowned jazz musicians, such as Benny Carter, Count Basie and Illinois Jacquet.
He began to perform his revolutionary bebop sound on trombone in the second half of the
decade, setting a completely new standard and genre for the jazz trombonist. His unique
style quickly gained him attention in the music world. He began composing in the early
1950s, followed by his joining with Danish trombonist Kai Winding. The group had a
rather unusual instrumentation of two trombones and a rhythm section. In 1956, Johnson
left the group to find a new musical challenge for himself.
Johnson began to focus more on composition, writing for brass ensembles and
even beginning to write for television and film scores in 1970. After parting with
Winding, he wrote several famous pieces: Poem for Brass, El Camino Real, and
Perceptions. He began to break into the film industry with music for Shaft, Cleopatra

Jones, and some television such as The Six Million Dollar Man. While he focused on
composition at the time, he still made occasional jazz recordings. Johnson spent
seventeen years out in Hollywood with his family, writing for television and film scores.
Johnson then moved back to Indianapolis in 1987 to write more for jazz
ensembles once again and record jazz. After seventeen years, he came back to jazz fulltime. He worked with some ensembles, performing his last album, The Brass Orchestra,
in 1996. He retired from trombone performance in 1997, yet continued to work on his
compositions. Johnson began to suffer from prostate cancer, and committed suicide on
February 4th, 2001. He married twice during his lifetime, remarrying after his first wifes
death. Johnson has two sons, Kevin and William, and a stepdaughter, Mikita.
Johnsons work still lives on today, his performances serving as a model for jazz
trombonists worldwide. His rich, dark tone and ease of performance deceives the
listeners ear, making his music sound natural and almost easy. His lyric, virtuosic
playing with such strong musical flow challenges even the best jazz trombonists today.
His ability to play with soul also made his performance as a jazz trombonist such an
iconic sound to jazz and bebop. One of Johnsons most famous pieces is from 1957, and
it is called Blue Trombone. The instrumentation (other than J.J.) involves Tommy
Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Max Roach on drums.
J.J. Johnson serves as an outstanding model for any type of trombonist, jazz or
not. His intonation quality and sensitivity to the music demonstrates qualities of any
strong musician. Johnson certainly made a significant splash in the world of jazz, and he
paved the way for jazz trombonists (particularly in the route of bebop). His virtuosic and

free-flowing performance, along with his challenging original compositions, will forever
earn him a name in the history of jazz.

References
Bernotas, B. (n.d.). An Interview with J. J. Johnson. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from
http://trombone.org/articles/library/jjjohnson-int.asp
ClassicalPlus - Jazz Artist - J.J. Johnson. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from
http://www.gmn.com/artists/artist.asp?id=2040
J.J. Johnson - Blue Trombone 1957 [Advertisement]. (2014, January 18). Retrieved April
20, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvgf0yPAqGI
J. J. Johnson: 1924-2001. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2016, from
http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=981455192
J.J. Johnson. (2005). J.J. Johnson: Thirteen Original Songs [CD]. Jamey Aebersold Jazz.
Sullivan, L. T. (n.d.). Discography. Retrieved April 22, 2016, from
http://jjjohnson.jazzgiants.net/biography/discography/

Discography
Albums

1949: J. J. Johnson (Savoy)

1949: J. J. Johnsons Jazz Quintets

1949: J. J. Johnsons Boppers (Fantasy)

1949: J. J. Johnson with Sonny Stitt (OJC)

1952: Jazz South Pacific (Savoy)

1953: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1 Blue Note

1955: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2 Blue Note

1957: First Place American Jazz Classics

1957: Blue Trombone American Jazz Classics

1957: Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson at the Opera House

1960: J.J. Inc. Columbia

1963: J.J.s Broadway (Verve)

1964: J.J.! (RCA)

1964: Proof Positive (Impulse!)

1965: Goodies (RCA)

1966: The Total (RCA)

1966: Broadway Express (RCA)

1977: The Yokohama Concert Pablo

1977: Chain Reaction: Yokohama Concert, Vol. 2 Pablo (released in 2002)

1979: Pinnacles OJC

1982: Aurex Jazz Festival 82 All Star Jam Somethin Else Classics TOCJ

1983: Jackson, Johnson, Brown and Company Fantasy

1983: Well Be Together Again J.J. Johnson and Joe Pass OJC

1984: Things Are Getting Better All the Time (w/ Al Grey) OJC

1988: Quintergy Antilles

1988: Standards Antilles

1992: Vivian Concord

1992: Lets Hang Out Verve

1994: Carnegie Hall Salutes the Jazz Masters Verve

1994: Tangence (with the Robert Farnon Orchestra) Verve

1996: The Brass Orchestra Verve

1998: Heroes Verve

With Kai Winding as co-leader

1954: Jay and Kai (Savoy)

1954: An Afternoon at Birdland

1954: Jay and Kai (Prestige)

1955: K + J.J. (Bethlehem)

1955: Nuf Said (Bethlehem)

1956: Trombone for Two (Columbia)

1956: Jay and Kai (Columbia)

1956: Jay and Kai + 6 (Columbia)

1960: The Great Kai & J. J. (Impulse!)

1968: Israel (A&M/CTI)

1968: Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI)

1969: Stonebone (A&M/CTI (Japan))

As sideman
With Cannonball Adderley

Julian Cannonball Adderley (EmArcy, 1955)

With Nat Adderley

Sayin Somethin (Atlantic, 1966)

With Count Basie

Basie Jam (1973)

Count Basie with Joe Turner The Bosses (1973)

Count Basie- Kansas City 7 (Pablo, 1980) Pablo

With Kenny Burrell

Night Song (Verve, 1969)

With Miles Davis

The Birth of the Cool (Capitol, 1949)

Walkin (Prestige, 1954)

With Paul Desmond

Summertime (A&M/CTI, 1968)

With Kenny Dorham

Afro-Cuban (Blue Note, 1955)

With Dizzy Gillespie

Dee Gee Days: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy, 1951-52 [1976])

Afro (Norgran, 1954)

Dizzy and Strings (Norgran, 1954)

Perceptions (Verve, 1961) composer and arranger

With Benny Golson

The Modern Touch (Riverside, 1957)

With Coleman Hawkins

The Hawk Flies High (1957)

With Milt Jackson

Bebop (East West, 1988)

With Elvin Jones

And Then Again (Atlantic, 1965)

With Oliver Nelson

Happenings with Hank Jones (Impulse!, 1966)

With Chico OFarrill

Nine Flags (Impulse!, 1966)

With Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1957)

With Moacir Santos

Carnival of the Spirits (Blue Note, 1975)

With Lalo Schifrin

New Fantasy (Verve, 1964)

Once a Thief and Other Themes (Verve, 1965)

With Horace Silver

The Cape Verdean Blues (Blue Note, 1965)

With Steve Turre

Steve Turre (Verve, 1996)

Soundtracks

Across 110th Street (c. 1972) Rykodisc 10706

Willie Dynamite Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1974) Hip-O Select

B000362202

Cleopatra Jones Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to (1974) Warner Bros.

B00005B471