Commander Trombone

During his career as a jazz musician, the late J.J. Johnson recorded many times as a leader. His well known musical vision and skills as a writer and arranger — not to mention his virtuosic translation of modern jazz to the trombone — meant the leader role fit him well. That same reputation, too, meant he was in demand as a sideman. In these instances, J.J.’s playing always adds something special to the musical proceedings, and, while freed from the responsibilities of a leader, he might sound a little more relaxed than usual. Below are three Blue Note CDs you may not have heard yet: all feature J.J. as a sideman. Check them out. The titles and cover art will link to the music at Amazon.

Afro-Cuban

Leader: Kenny Dorham, Recording date: March 28, 1955

1. Afrodisia
2. Basheer’s Dream
3. Lotus Flower
4. Minor’s Holiday

• J.J. Johnson, trombone
• Kenny Dorham, trumpet
• Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone
• Cecil Payne, bass sax
• Horace Silver, piano
• Oscar Pettiford, bass
• Art Blakey, drums
• Carlos Valdez, percussion

Volume 2

Leader: Sonny Rollins, Recording date: April 14, 1957

Page for this recording at Wikipedia

1. Why Don’t I?
2. Wail March
3. You Stepped Out of a Dream
4. Poor Butterfly
5. Misterioso

• J.J. Johnson, trombone
• Sonny Rollins, Tenor saxophone
• Horace Silver, piano
• Paul Chambers, bass
• Art Blakey, drums

Cape Verdean Blues

Leader: Horace Silver, Recording date: October 22, 1965

Page for this recording at Wikipedia

1. Nutville
2. Bonita
3. Mo’ Joe

• J.J. Johnson, trombone
• Horace Silver, piano
• Woody Shaw, trumpet
• Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone
• Bob Cranshaw, bass
• Roger Humphries, drums

On the web, there are lots of things to read, see, and hear. Consequently, there are a lot of things one might miss. One good thing I missed was this Bob Brookmeyer interview. Jazz Wax, the home of the interview, is run by Marc Myers, a New York journalist, and was linked from NPR’s new jazz blog, A Blog Supreme.

Incidentally, you might wonder how NPR came up with the great title, “A Blog Supreme.” Well, they had a contest to name the blog, but they conducted the contest after they had already come up with the obviously-fantastic “A Blog Supreme” name. Go figure.