Jazz Giants
J.J. Johnson was born James Louis in Indianapolis on January 22, 1924. At the age of nine, Johnson became very interested with music thus learning the piano with a church organist. He took further interest in music once he attended Crispus Attucks Senior High school playing the. He started out playing the Bari saxophone being that it was the only instrument available to him. After a short time, he lost much interest in the saxophone and at the age of fourteen he picked up playing the trombone. Johnson then played in the high school band as well as the brass marching band of the YMCA.The 1920's in America was a jazz period classified as the "Roaring Twenties" or "Jazz Age" dominated by Bessie Smith, and people at the top such as Duke Ellington. Much of it reflected the Harlem Renaissance. It was a time where jazz began to separate from its roots in ragtime and blues. This new art form went through many periods of change and evolution. Dixieland soon sprang up from th
In the June 1997 issue of Downbeat magazine, Johnson announced his retirement from live performances. The next few years were spent in his hometown of Indianapolis, IN, composing works on his Macintosh Quadra and occasionally offering input to the J.J. Johnson Mailing List. A book also came out written by Joshua Berret and Louis Bourgois III entitled The Musical World of J.J. Johnson. Tragedy struck the jazz and trombone community when on February 4, 2001, J.J. Johnson passed away. Only now are we able to see the number of lives that he has touched in a positive manner. In addition, J.J.'s legacy will continue to inspire new trombonists. Kai Winding is best remembered for two-trombone combo he led with J.J. Johnson from 1954 to 1956. Although the pair went their separate ways, they reunited often at times, anonymously on numerous recordings by other artists, and even released a reunion album for Impulse in 1964. Known as "K and JJ," their smooth blended sounds were as much
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 661
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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