J. J. Johnson, born James Louis Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist and composer. He died on February 4, 2001. He recorded many popular albums together with Kai Winding as well as solo albums. He was also a sideman on many great jazz recordings. Many of his compositions such as “Wee Dot,” “Lament,” and “Enigma” are jazz standards. He was part the Third Stream movement of jazz music in the 1950s and 1960s. He also wrote a variety of large-scale pieces that combined elements of classical and jazz music. He developed a unique, flawless technique in his early twenties and was the first trombonist who rose to the challenge of bebop. He remained unchallenged at forefront of modern jazz his entire career. He stopped performing in public in 1970, and he returned to the stage in late 1980s. He was a popular choice in jazz circles from the mid-fifties to the late eighties. He even won Down Beat’s “Trombonist” award during his absence. J. J. Johnson was inducted into Down Beat’s Hall of Fame by Down Beat in 1995. His recording career spanned 54 year, from 1942 through 1996. Johnson has been long regarded as one of the most influential jazz trombonists of the post-Swing Era. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
