Budd Johnson
Budd Johnson | |
---|---|
Birth name | Albert J. Johnson |
Born | December 14, 1910 |
Origin | Dallas, Texas, United States |
Died | October 20, 1984 | (aged 73)
Occupation | Saxophonist |
Instrument(s) | Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet |
Years active | 1920s-1970s |
Albert J. "Budd" Johnson (December 14, 1910 – October 20, 1984) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who worked extensively with, among others, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday and, especially, Earl Hines.[1]
Biography
Budd Johnson initially played drums and piano before switching to tenor saxophone. In the 1920s he performed in Texas and parts of the Midwest, working with Jesse Stone among others. Johnson had his recording debut while working with Louis Armstrong's band in 1932-33 but he is more known for his work, over many years, with Earl Hines. It is contended that he and Billy Eckstine, Hines' long-term collaborator, led Hines to hire "modernists" in the birth of bebop, which came largely out of the Hines band. Johnson was also an early figure in the bebop era, doing sessions with Coleman Hawkins in 1944. In the 1950s he led his own group and did session work for Atlantic Records - he is the featured tenor saxophone soloist on Ruth Brown's hit "Teardrops from My Eyes". In the mid-1960s he began working and recording again with Hines. His association with Hines is his longest lasting and most significant. In 1975 he began working with the New York Jazz Repertory Orchestra. He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993. His grandson, Albert Johnson (aka Prodigy), is a member of the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep.[2]
Discography
As leader
- 1956: Blues a la Mode (Felsted Records UK, with Charlie Shavers, Vic Dickenson, Al Sears, Bert Keyes, Joe Benjamin, Jo Jones, Ray Bryant)[3]
- 1960: Budd Johnson And The Four Brass Giants (Riverside Records, with trumpeters Ray Nance, Clark Terry, Nat Adderley, and Harry Edison)[4]
- 1960: Let's Swing (Keg Johnson, Tommy Flanagan, George Duvivier, Charlie Persip)[5]
- 1963: French Cookin' (Argo)
- 1964: Off the Wall (Argo)
- 1970: Ya! Ya! (Argo)
- 1974: Mr. Bechet
- 1978: In Memory of a Very Dear Friend (Dragon Records)
- 1984: The Old Dude and the Fundance Kid (Uptown Records, with Phil Woods)
As sideman
With Cannonball Adderley
- Domination (Capitol, 1965)
WIth Count Basie
- The Legend (Roulette, 1961)
- Kansas City 8: Get Together (1979)
With Ruth Brown
- Miss Rhythm (Atlantic, 1959)
With Duke Ellington and Count Basie
- First Time! The Count Meets the Duke (Columbia, 1961)
With Gil Evans
- Great Jazz Standards (Pacific Jazz, 1959)
- Out of the Cool (Impulse!, 1960)
With Dizzy Gillespie
- The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, 1937-1949 [1995])
- Dee Gee Days: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy, 1951-52 [1976])
- Jazz Recital (Norgran, 1955)
With Etta Jones
- Lonely and Blue (Prestige, 1962)
With Quincy Jones
- The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
- The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)
- I Dig Dancers (Mercury, 1960)
With Jimmy McGriff
- The Big Band (Solid State, 1966)
With Carmen McRae
- Something to Swing About (Kapp, 1959)
With Bud Powell
With Carrie Smith
- Carrie Smith (West 54 Records, 1978)
With Jimmy Smith
- Monster (Verve, 1965)
With Sonny Stitt
- Broadway Soul (Colpix, 1965)
With Clark Terry
- Color Changes (Candid, 1960)
- Clark Terry Plays the Jazz Version of All American (Moodsville, 1962)
With Ben Webster
- Ben Webster and Associates (Verve, 1959)
With Randy Weston
- Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1960)
- Highlife (Colpix, 1963)
- Tanjah (Polydor, 1973)
References
- ^ Allmusic biography
- ^ Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll (2nd ed.). New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-306-80683-5.
- ^ Allmusic Blue a la Mode review
- ^ Allmusic The Four Brass Giants review
- ^ Allmusic Let's Swing review