Howard Johnson

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Howard Johnson ( INNtöne 2013)

Howard Lewis Johnson (born August 7, 1941 in Montgomery , Alabama , † January 11, 2021 in New York City ) was an American baritone saxophonist , tuba player , composer and arranger .

Live and act

Johnson grew up in a small town near Cleveland , Ohio . At the age of eleven he played the baritone saxophone in the school band, then the tuba. During his service in the Navy , he learned the clarinet and alto saxophone, which he later did not use professionally. On the advice of Eric Dolphys , he went to New York City in 1963, where he came into contact with the local music scene. Johnson made his first recordings as a baritone saxophonist with Bill Dixon and Hank Crawford ; In 1965 Charles Mingus brought him for his Music Written for Monterey . In 1966 he played for the first time with Archie Shepp , with whom he recorded his album Mama Too Tight . Gradually, Johnson went from being a band member to being a soloist. He played in the band of Josephine Baker and Marvin Gaye , in the Duke Ellington band. He was also a member of the Jazz Composer's Orchestra . In 1967 Johnson settled in Los Angeles for some time and worked there with the bands of Oliver Nelson and Quincy Jones , among others .

Back in New York in 1969, Johnson was briefly a member of the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra , but also of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra ; he was involved in the recording of Escalator over the Hill and performed with Gato Barbieri . He also played repeatedly in the various formations of Gil Evans , such as the recording of Svengali in 1973, his European tour in 1974 and the album There Comes a Time in 1975 and later appearances with the Monday Night Orchestra . After 1970 he also worked on record productions by rock and blues musicians. So he put together a tuba quartet for Taj Mahal , which contributed to the album The Real Thing . He was also involved in the recording of John Lennon , The Band ( Rock of Ages , The Last Waltz 1971), BB King . From 1975 Johnson worked as an arranger for many New York formations. In 1972 he was a guest soloist at the Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert concert . From 1976 he was a member of the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band , then Peter Herbolzheimer's Gala All Star Band .

In 1977 he founded the tuba sextet Gravity , among others with Dave Bargeron , Bob Stewart, Tom Malone , with whom he has since recorded several albums. In 1985 Johnson made a guest appearance at the Jazzfest Berlin with a baritone saxophonist all-star ensemble, in the same year George Gruntz brought him to Graz for the scenic oratorio The Holy Grail of Jazz and Joy . In the early 1990s Johnson was in Hamburg for five years to play in the NDR Big Band . During these years he also made recordings with George Gruntz, Miles Davis and Quincy Jones , John Scofield , Barbara Dennerlein and other musicians, but also released the first album under his own name.

Howard Johnson ( INNtöne 2013)

It is thanks to Howard Johnson, together with Bob Stewart, to have developed the tuba from a pure wind bass to a recognized solo instrument. He said: “What is supposed to be funny about the tuba is actually bad: either ugly or loud. The only reason the tuba has a bad reputation is because it is played poorly. ”From the mid-1970s, Johnson took the leading place in the Various Instruments category in the polls of jazz magazines Down Beat and Jazz Forum and ousted it then Roland Kirk from this position. Johnson died in January 2021 after a lengthy illness.

The tuba player and baritone saxophonist Howard Johnson should not be confused with the alto saxophonist and clarinetist of the same name, who was born in Boston in 1905 .

Discography (selection)

Under his own name

  • Howard Johnson: Arrival (Verve, 1994)
  • Howard Johnson & Gravity: Gravity !!! (Polygram, 1995) with tuba players Bob Stewart, Earl McIntyre , Dave Bargeron, Tom Malone, Joe Dailey, Carl Kleinsteuber, Marcus Rojas and others.
  • Howard Johnson & Gravity: Right Now! (Verve, Polygram, 1998)
  • Howard Johnson & Gravity: Testimony (2017)

With other bands as a soloist

With the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band
  • The George Gruntz Conert Jazz Band with Guest Star Elvin Jones (MPS, 1978)
  • At Zürich Schauspielhaus (Kenwood, 1981, published 1984)
  • Live 82 (Amiga, 1982)
  • Theater (ECM, 1983, published 1984)
  • Happening Now! (Hat hat, 1987)
  • First Prize (Enja, 1989)
  • Blues ´n´ Dues et Cetera (Enja, 1991)
  • Beyond Another Wall (TCB, 1991)
  • Ray Anderson & The George Gruntz Big Band ( Gramavision , 1994)

Web links

Literature / sources

Remarks

  1. ^ Announcement of death. HoJoTuba.com, January 11, 2021, accessed January 11, 2021 .
  2. ↑ Next to him there were Bob Stewart , Earl McIntyre and Joe Daley , some of whom switched to trombone and other wind instruments.
  3. ↑ quoted from Kunzler, p. 584
personal data
SURNAME Johnson, Howard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johnson, Howard Lewis (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION American jazz saxophonist and tuba player
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Montgomery , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 2021
Place of death New York City