Molly Johnson

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Molly Johnson (2008)

Molly Johnson (born April 14, 1959 ) is a Canadian , Juno Award- winning pop , rock and jazz singer .

Live and act

Molly Johnson grew up in Toronto . She is the youngest of John and Suzanne Johnson's three biological children, and an adopted cousin on their paternal side also belongs to the family. Her older brother is the actor and director Clark Johnson , her sister the actress and singer Taborah Johnson (* 1953). Her parents were born in the United States and met in Switzerland. There closed from a wealthy white originating Family Suzanne their school education, while John Johnson for a use as a GI again stayed in Europe during World War II, having any of the for Black had received limited study places in the United States. The couple first lived in Philadelphia and then moved to an upscale neighborhood in Toronto, where Molly Johnson and her siblings were the only dark-skinned children in their school. Her mother volunteered for organizations like the Canadian University Service Overseas and was committed to social advancement, which also influenced Molly Johnson's attitude.

Ed Mirvish (1914–2007), impresario and family friend, engaged Molly and Clark Johnson in the mid-1960s for the performance of Porgy and Bess at the Royal Alexandra Theater . This was followed by musicals such as South Pacific and The Golden Rainbow, as well as appearances in TV shows. Molly Johnson became a child star . She attended the National Ballet School and initially intended to become a choreographer . Instead, she developed an increasing interest in music. Through her sister she got in contact with Canadian musicians like Dominic Troiano , a later band member of James Gang and The Guess Who , and wanted to write her own songs like them. At the age of 15 she became the lead singer of the disco band Chocolate Affair , which broke up after a year. In 1979 she founded the rock band Alta Moda with Norman Orenstein , who signed a contract with Sony and had a radio hit ( Julian ). This later became the group Infidels , who played harder rock and released an album of the same name on IRS Records in 1991. Johnson also worked as a backing singer for the Canadian band Helix , Jeff Healey and Tom Cochrane . From rock, she then increasingly turned to jazz and appeared in the opening act for Ray Charles and BB King .

Molly Johnson at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival (2007)

Despite the early start of her career, Johnson's musical breakthrough was a long time coming. After the IRS terminated its collaboration with the Infidels , it considered leaving the music business. She started a family in the late 1990s and was the mother of two sons. However, the producer and songwriter Steve MacKinnon was able to convince them to record some jazz songs. In 2000, based on it, their first solo album Molly Johnson was released , on which Stéphane Grappelli has a guest appearance. Shortly thereafter, the responsible label Song Corp went bankrupt. The collaboration with MacKinnon, however, continued. In the following years Johnson brought out three more jazz albums, to which the members of her tour band (singer Colleen Allen, pianist Andrew Craig, bassist Mike Downes and drummer Mark McLean) contributed. Her second album Another Day was released in 2003 by Narada Jazz and contains elements of jazzy pop and rock as well as reggae and R&B . It was particularly successful in France, where it reached number 79 on the charts and stayed in the top 150 for a total of 35 weeks. Johnson toured France several times and was able to place her other albums there in the charts.

Universal Music Canada released Johnson's third album, Messin 'Around , in 2006 , which was recorded within 14 days and barely edited. It is dominated by jazz / pop pieces, complemented by the French chanson Tristes Souvenir and cover , including Bruce Springsteen's song Streets of Philadelphia . With her album Lucky (2008 on A440 Entertainment), a collection of jazz standard pieces , Johnson won a Juno Award in the Vocal Jazz Album of the Year category , after her previous albums had been consistently nominated for the Juno.

Since Johnson turned to jazz, she was often compared to the American jazz singer Billie Holiday due to stylistic and tonal similarities. According to his own statements, Johnson was annoyed by comments such as “You are just like Billie” (Eng. “You are exactly like Billie”) and replied with “Are you insane? I'm because of Billie. ”(“ Are you crazy? I'm because of Billie. ”). Johnson's father loved her and, like others of his generation, made sure that she did not have to lead a life like Billie Holiday. In 2014 Johnson released the tribute album Because Of Billie on Universal Music Canada. It contains 14 pieces related to Billie Holiday as Them There Eyes and What a Little Moonlight Can Do . Johnson recorded it with pianist Robi Botos , drummer Terry Clarke, and bassist and trombonist Mike Downes.

In 2016, Johnson organized the Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which was attended by over 400 Canadian musicians. In 2018 her album Meaning To Tell Ya was released by Universal Music Canada, which was created in collaboration with producer Larry Klein . Drummer Davide DiRenzo, guitarist Justin Abedin, keyboardist Robi Botos, bassist Mike Downes, organist Pete Kuzma and guest saxophonist Bob Sheppard also took part . The album contained seven new songs and three interpretations of classic pieces.

In addition to her music, Johnson is committed to social issues. She founded the Kumbaya Foundation, which collects money to care for people infected with HIV and AIDS . She works against racism and sexism . In 2007 she was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada .

Discography

  • Molly Johnson (2000)
  • Another Day (2003)
  • Messin 'Around (2006)
  • If You Know Love (2007) (French release of Messin 'Around )
  • Lucky (2008)
  • The Molly Johnson Songbook (2011)
  • Because Of Billie (2014)
  • Meaning To Tell Ya (2018)

Web links

Commons : Molly Johnson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sarah Hampson: Johnson on and off. In: The Globe and Mail . November 22, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Biography allmusic.com. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ About Molly mollyjohnson.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  4. ^ A b "Another Day" dawns for Johnson. In: Billboard . July 20, 2002, p. 61.
  5. ↑ Another Day allmusic.com. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  6. ^ Molly Johnson Charts acharts.us. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  7. ↑ Molly Johnson Search junoawards.ca. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  8. ↑ Christopher Loudon: Molly Johnson: Because of Billie. In: JazzTimes . February 7, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Barry Livingston, Meaning To Tell Ya - Molly Johnson. In: The WholeNote. November 27, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  10. ↑ Release of Meaning To Tell Ya umusic.ca. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  11. ↑ Molly Johnson, OC for approx. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Johnson, Molly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian pop and jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Canada