Freddy Johnson

Freddy Johnson , also Freddie Johnson (born March 12, 1904 in New York City , † March 23, 1961 there ) was an American jazz pianist , singer and bandleader of swing .

Life

Johnson began his career as an accompanist with Florence Mills ; In 1924 he founded his own band. In 1925 he worked with Elmer Snowden and in 1926 with Billy Fowler . After a short collaboration with Henri Saparo and Noble Sissle , he became a member of Sam Wooding's band , with whom he came to Europe in June 1928. In 1929 he separated from Wooding and stayed in Paris to perform as a soloist. During this time he also worked with Arthur Briggs and put together his own jazz formation, with which he also accompanied Marlene Dietrich . 1933/34 Johnson played in the band of the singer Freddy Taylor ; Johnson left Paris in February 1934 and worked in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the mid-1930s he participated in recordings of the Quintette du Hot Club de France . In Amsterdam he led an ensemble with Lex Van Spall ; at the Negro Palace he played in a trio with Coleman Hawkins . He later played with Max Woiski in his own club La Cubana in Amsterdam. In this club he appeared until December 11, 1941, when he was arrested by the National Socialists after the German declaration of war on the United States . Because of his American citizenship, he was viewed as an enemy and was interned in Bavaria from January 1942 to February 1944; then it was exchanged and returned to the United States.

After his return he worked with George James, in 1944 he became a member of Garvin Bushell's band in New York. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he mostly worked as a piano and singing teacher; he also made some appearances as a soloist in Club Well's New York . In 1959 he returned to Europe for the Free and Easy Show and performed in the Netherlands for three weeks.

After the outbreak of cancer he had to go to a hospital in Copenhagen in the fall of 1960 ; on his return to New York he died in March 1961 in St. Barnabas Hospital.

Lexigraphic entries

• John Chilton Who's Who of Jazz - Storyville to Swingstreet- , ISBN 0306802430 , page 169
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Surinam Jazz Musicians in the Netherlands ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.