J.J. Johnson

Born James Louis Johnson on 22 January 1924 in Indianapolis, Indiana, J.J. Johnson was an American jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger often called "the Charlie Parker of the trombone" for transferring bebop innovations to his instrument with such speed and ease that listeners assumed he played valve rather than slide trombone. After studying piano from age nine to 11, Johnson took up trombone at age 14. He began his professional career with Clarence Love in 1941 and Snookum Russell in 1942, where he met trumpeter Fats Navarro. Johnson played in Benny Carter's orchestra from 1942 to 1945, making his recording debut with Carter in 1943 on "Love for Sale" and participating in the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in 1944. He spent 1945-1946 with Count Basie's Orchestra, then played with all the top bebop musicians including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, and the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool Nonet.

Johnson lost his cabaret card in 1946 after a misdemeanour conviction, preventing him from working in New York nightclubs for 12 years. Struggling to find work, he took a job as blueprint inspector at Sperry Gyroscope from 1952 to 1954. In August 1954, he formed a popular two-trombone quintet with Kai Winding known as Jay and Kai. After they separated in 1956, Johnson led his own quintets and began composing ambitious works including "Poem for Brass" (1956), "El Camino Real", "Perceptions" featuring Dizzy Gillespie, and "Lament", which became a standard. He worked with Miles Davis during 1961-1962, then moved to California in 1970 to score television series including Starsky and Hutch and films including Cleopatra Jones and Shaft. Despite not playing publicly, Johnson kept winning DownBeat polls throughout the 1970s.

Starting with a Japanese tour in 1977, Johnson gradually returned to active performance, leading quintets in the 1980s that often featured Ralph Moore. In 1996, he was honoured as NEA Jazz Master alongside Tommy Flanagan and Benny Golson. Later diagnosed with prostate cancer, Johnson died on 4 February 2001 in Indianapolis aged 76.

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