Everything about James P Johnson totally explained
James Price Johnson (
February 1 1894–
November 17 1955) was an
African-American pianist and
composer. With
Luckey Roberts, Johnson was one of the originators of the
stride style of jazz
piano playing.
Biography
Johnson was born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey. His family moved to
New York City in
1908. His first professional engagement was at
Coney Island in
1912. In
1911, while he was "still going to school in short pants", he attended
Jelly Roll Morton's performance in Harlem and was inspired by the blues.
Beside being a jazz piano pioneer, and a most spontaneously inventive performer, Johnson penned hit tunes: "
Charleston" (which debuted in his
Broadway show
Runnin' Wild in
1923,although by some accounts Johnson had written it years earlier) became one of the most popular tunes and arguably the definitive dance number of the Roaring
1920s. Others are "
If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)," "You've Got to Be Modernistic," "Baby Don't Cry," "Keep off the Grass," "Old Fashioned Love," "A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid," "Carolina Shout," and "Snowy Morning Blues". He wrote music in many styles, including
waltzes,
ballet,
symphonic pieces, and light
opera; many of these ambitious, long-form pieces are presumed lost.
James Weldon Johnson, a pioneer of the African-American musical theater and renowned choral director, had this to say about Johnson's style of playing: "It was music of a kind I'd never heard before... The barbaric harmonies, the audacious resolutions, often consisting of an abrupt jump from one key to another, the intricate rhythms in which the accents fell in the most unexpected places, but in which the beat was never lost, produced a most curious effect - the dexterity of his left hand in making rapid octave runs and jumps was little short of marvelous; and with his right he frequently swept half the keyboard with clean cut chromatics which he fitted in so nicely as never to fail to arouse in his listeners a sort of pleasant surprise at the accomplishment of the feat."
James P. Johnson taught
Fats Waller and got him his first
piano roll and recording assignments. Along with
Fats Waller and
Willie 'The Lion' Smith, 'The Big Three' defined the Harlem Stride piano style. "Carolina Shout" was their "Maple Leaf Rag" - the test piece that put every pianist on notice. Even Duke Ellington recorded it; ragtime infused with blues had become jazz.
Johnson recorded dozens of superb
player piano roll recordings for the
QRS Piano Roll Company in the
1920s and the Aeolian Company in the teens. It was during this period that he met and influenced
George Gershwin, who was also a young piano-roll artist at Aeolian. He was also a strong influence on
Count Basie,
Duke Ellington,
Art Tatum, and
Thelonious Monk. His influence continues to this day in the work of
Cyrus Chestnut,
Harry Connick Jr.,
Mark Birnbaum and
Reginald Robinson.
In addition to being a lyrical pianist with a warm, hearty sound, Johnson was also a sensitive and facile accompanist; Johnson often recorded with Ethel Waters and
Bessie Smith, and was reportedly the latter's favorite pianist. Even guitarist
Chet Atkins credited Johnson and "stride piano" as a major influence on his early style; Atkins covered Johnson's compositions on an early solo album of his, as well as his 1979 collaboration
"The First Nashville Guitar Quartet."
In the late
1930s, Johnson was intermittently incapacitated by several
strokes. When he returned to active performing in the early 1940s, he demonstrated his adaptability by leading a small
swing group and performing regularly with
Eddie Condon. He also did some studying and composing in these last few years with
Maury Deutsch.
Johnson permanently retired from performing after a severe stroke in
1955. He died in
Jamaica, New York.
Honors and recognitions
On
September 16,
1995 the
U.S. Post Office issues a James P. Johnson 32 cent commemorative postage stamp.
Film Scores
Johnson's compositions as a
film score were used in a number of movies, which were compiled from previously written musical compositions. Partial list includes:
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'James P Johnson'.
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