Speaking of great jazz artists who werent mentioned in the documentary,
the famous trombonist J.J. Johnson's suicide last sunday almost skipped
our AJ radar.
Here are some great links:
http://www.trombone.org/default.asp - a Tribute to JJ with a sampling of
MP3's and some nice photos
http://www.jjjohnson.org/index.shtml - fan site full of info
Below is the obit from his hometown's paper, the Indianapolis Star.
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Renowned jazz trombonist dies at 77
James Louis 'J.J.' Johnson, an Indianapolis native, was known as one of
the greatest instrumentalists and arrangers in jazz history.
By Kevin O'Neal
Indianapolis Star
February 5, 2001
James Louis "J.J." Johnson, an Indianapolis native who gained worldwide
fame as one of the greatest trombonists and arrangers in jazz history,
died Sunday. He was 77.
Considered as much a revelation on slide trombone as Charlie Parker was on
the saxophone, Johnson also was a top arranger and composer and was a
perennial winner of Down Beat magazine reader's poll as best trombonist.
As much as he was revered by jazz aficionados, he also made his mark in
popular culture, handling the music for such television shows as Starsky
and Hutch and Mayberry, R.F.D., and films including the original Shaft. He
also performed with such jazz greats as Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.
"He was mesmerizing,'' said Alonzo "Pookie'' Johnson, an Indianapolis
saxophonist not related to J.J. who played with Johnson and traveled to
Chicago to hear him play in the days when bebop was a sensation. "He was
the most influential trombone player.''
After spending two decades touring with bands, then years in California
arranging and recording film scores, Johnson returned to his Indianapolis
home a dozen years ago and considered himself retired, although he had
performed at the Indy Jazz Fest.
According to a report from the Marion County Sheriff's Department,
Johnson, who had been ill in recent months, committed suicide at his
Northside home on Sunday morning.
"It was very devastating,'' said his wife, Carolyn Johnson. "I will truly
miss him.''
Along with Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard, Johnson was one of
Indianapolis' greatest gifts to the jazz world. "He was one of the best of
the jazz players,'' said Virtue Hampton Whited, one of the members of the
Hampton jazz family.
Bandleader Jimmy Coe, who attended Attucks High School with Johnson, said
he revolutionized the trombone, turning it into a leading force.
"In those days the trombone was a slow instrument, but that didn't matter
to J.J.,'' Coe said. "He opened a new field for trombonists. He was
unlimited.''
Word of Johnson's death began to spread via the Internet Sunday, as jazz
fans and professional musicians e-mailed each other -- hoping it wasn't
true. Bill Dinwiddie, a professional trombone player in Chicago, called
The Indianapolis Star newsroom after he received word, hoping the
newspaper would confirm his suspicion that the news was an urban myth
disseminated on the Web.
"He was the giant of the jazz trombone,'' Dinwiddie said, his voice choked
with emotion even though he met Johnson only once -- to shake his hand in
a nightclub. "The man invented an entirely new style . . . I more or less
got my start by listening to his records."
Johnson was born on Jan. 22, 1924. He started on the piano when he was 11,
then turned to the trombone three years later when friends needed a horn
for their band.
"I enjoyed it, so I committed myself to that full-bore," Johnson said in
1995 when he was interviewed by The Star about his start with the
trombone. "It didn't begin with that kind of passion. My parents were
neutral about it all, but I had very good music teachers."
Johnson said his Indianapolis musical influences were Norman Merrifield, a
music teacher at Attucks, along with piano player Erroll Grandy.
As his talent grew, Johnson left the Indianapolis scene and headed to the
jazz mecca of New York. While touring with jazz bands during the heyday of
those ensembles, Johnson played with the Clarence Love and Snookum Russell
bands before he got his first big break with the Benny Carter band in
1942.
"J.J. and Carter used to get put out of hotels for practicing too loud,''
Coe recalled.
In those days, Johnson developed the rapid-fire playing technique that
brought him national attention, making his first recordings in 1946. He
performed with Milt Jackson, Illinois Jacquet and Sonny Rollins, and
played on the historic Birth of the Cool album with Miles Davis in 1949.
Johnson briefly dropped out of music and worked as a blueprint inspector
for an equipment company before forming an ensemble with fellow trombonist
Kai Winding.
Johnson formed several small touring groups in the 1960s, then turned his
attention to composing and arranging music in the 1970s.
He was responsible for the music in popular TV series such as Starsky and
Hutch, The Mod Squad, That Girl and The Danny Thomas Show. Johnson's film
music credits included Cleopatra Jones and Shaft.
After 17 years in Hollywood, Johnson moved back to Indianapolis in the
late 1980s to resume his performing career, something he had to put on the
back burner while he was a full-time arranger.
"The jazz scene -- or the lack of it -- has no correlation to my move back
to Indianapolis,'' Johnson told The Star in 1988. "I wanted Indianapolis
to be my home, and it is my home.''
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