Herman "H." Johnson (born 1937) is an American

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He is known for his weekly program "Jazz Classics" which he has hosted since 1978 on WABE, North

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

's local

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

affiliate.

Biography

Johnson grew up in

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188

and is

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

was a family friend who would visit periodically and play his mother's piano. When his parents amicably divorced, Johnson moved to Atlanta with his stepfather. He graduated from Atlanta's L. J. Price High School in 1957. He also attended

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

and Atlanta Area Tech. While in the U.S. Army he received NCO training. Since his teenage years, he has worked at various Atlanta radio stations including

WAOK WAOK (1380 AM) is a commercial radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a talk radio format aimed at the African American community. WAOK has local hosts in morning and afternoon drive time with the syndicated ...

, WIGO,

WRFG WRFG (89.3 FM) is a non-commercial public radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It calls itself Radio Free Georgia and is owned by the Radio Free Georgia Broadcasting Foundation, featuring a community radio format. WRFG airs a variety of musical sty ...

WCLK WCLK (91.9 FM) – branded ''Jazz 91.9'' – is a non-commercial jazz radio station licensed to serve Atlanta, Georgia. Owned by Clark Atlanta University, the station covers much of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The WCLK studios are located on ...

, and WXAP. His program "Jazz Classics" airs each Saturday night on WABE from 8 pm to 2 am; the program began in 1978. The program always begins with the

Father Tom Vaughn Father Tom Vaughn (October 13, 1936 – March 4, 2011) was an American jazz pianist and Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Episcopal priest. Early life Born Thomas Wade Vaughn on October 14, 1936, in Benton, Kentucky, Benton, Ke ...

version of "

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

" and usually ends with a version of " I'll Be Seeing You." At midnight, Johnson plays a weekly selection of "just the right version" of " 'Round Midnight." In the fall of 2013, the station introduced a second program hosted by him, "Blues Classics," on Friday evenings. This program airs from 11 pm to 2 am. In his off-air life, in past years, he operated a gift shop in southwestern Atlanta. He lives with his wife Marilyn in

Mableton, Georgia Mableton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. According to the 2020 census, Mableton has a population of 40,834. Upon Brookhaven's cityhood in December 2012, Mableton became ...

; she accompanies him to the studio in Atlanta when he does his program each Saturday.

Honors

In 2001, Johnson was one of the first six recipients of the Paul Mitchell Community Jazz Awards, presented by local station

. On June 21, 2010, a tribute to Johnson was held at Atlanta jazz club Café 290 in honor of his 30 years on the air at WABE. The

Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members primarily elected from 12 districts within the city. The Atlanta City Government is divided into three bo ...

declared the day "H. Johnson Day" in his honor. Coverage of the event aired on local PBS affiliate

WABE-TV WABE-TV (channel 30) is a secondary PBS member television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Owned by Atlanta Public Schools, it is a sister outlet to NPR member station WABE (90.1 FM) and local educational access cable service APS Cab ...

in the fall of 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, H. 1937 births Living people People from Atlanta Radio personalities from Georgia (U.S. state)