{"title":"J.J. Johnson","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn 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 \u003cem\u003eJazz at the Philharmonic\u003c\/em\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohnson 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStarting 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"sonny-stitt-bud-powell-j-j-johnson-1976-japanese-prestige-jazz-masterpiece-series-lp","title":"Sonny Stitt \/ Bud Powell \/ J.J. Johnson (1976 Japanese Prestige Jazz Masterpiece Series LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e: NM\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eEX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eNone\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur grading system explained \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003cbr\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSonny Stitt \/ Bud Powell \/ J.J. Johnson Vinyl LP - 1976 Japanese Prestige Jazz Masterpiece Series Mono Reissue\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStitt's first recordings on tenor saxophone\u003c\/strong\u003e, three New York bop sessions from October 1949 through January 1950 compiled onto a single LP\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo entirely different bands\u003c\/strong\u003e: Bud Powell, Curly Russell and Max Roach on Side A; J.J. Johnson, John Lewis, Nelson Boyd and Max Roach on Side B\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e1976 Japanese Prestige Jazz Masterpiece Series mono pressing\u003c\/strong\u003e, No. 8 in the series, manufactured by Victor Musical Industries, Inc.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album compiles three separate New York bop sessions recorded between October 1949 and January 1950 and originally issued by Prestige across several 10\" releases before being compiled onto a 12\" LP as PRLP 7024 in 1956. The two sides represent entirely different bands. Side A draws from the December 11, 1949 and January 26, 1950 dates, with Stitt on tenor, Bud Powell on piano, Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums, a quartet working through standards and Stitt originals at the breakneck tempos and harmonically sophisticated vocabulary of the nascent bebop style. Side B draws from the slightly earlier October 17, 1949 session, where Stitt and Roach are joined by J.J. Johnson on trombone, John Lewis on piano and Nelson Boyd on bass, the quintet working through four compositions including two takes each of \"Blue Mode\" and Johnson's \"Teapot\", as well as Lewis's own \"Afternoon in Paris\". Significantly, these were Stitt's earliest recordings on tenor saxophone. He had established himself as an alto player of exceptional ability but the persistent comparisons to Charlie Parker, whose harmonic language and phrasing he closely shared, led him to take up the larger horn as a means of carving his own identity, and these sessions document that transition at the very start.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe musicians gathered across both sessions were among the defining figures of bebop at precisely the moment the style was consolidating. Powell at the piano is at the peak of his powers, his left hand providing sparse but perfectly placed comping while his right builds lines of ferocious velocity and harmonic precision. Johnson, whose work on these dates helped establish the trombone as a viable bebop instrument after years of the horn being considered ill-suited to the style's demands, brings his characteristically clean articulation to the quintet tracks. Roach underpins both sessions, his drumming already demonstrating the melodic intelligence and rhythmic sophistication that would make him one of jazz's most important percussionists. Released in Japan in 1976 on Prestige (SMJ-6508M) as No. 8 in the Prestige Jazz Masterpiece Series and manufactured by Victor Musical Industries, Inc.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Prestige","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43242772987963,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_6278.jpg?v=1772146326"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/j-j-johnson.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}