''J Is for Jazz'' is an album by the
J. J. Johnson Quintet which was released on the
Columbia label.
The Complete Columbia J.J. Johnson Small Group Sessions - Liner Notes
, accessed July 18, 2016
Reception
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
awarded the album 3 stars.
Track listing
All compositions by J. J. Johnson except where noted.
# "Naptown U.S.A." - 4:59
# "It Might as Well Be Spring
"It Might as Well Be Spring" is a song from the 1945 film ''State Fair''. which features the only original film score by the songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. "It Might as Well Be Spring" won the Academy Award for Best ...
" ( Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) - 4:46
# "Tumbling Tumbleweeds
"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" is a song composed by Bob Nolan. Although one of the most famous songs associated with the Sons of the Pioneers, the song was composed by Nolan in the 1930s, while working as a caddy and living in Los Angeles. Originally ti ...
" (Bob Nolan
Bob Nolan (born Clarence Robert Nobles; April 13, 1908 – June 16, 1980, name changed to Robert Clarence Nobles in 1929) was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers, and compo ...
) - 4:14
# " Angel Eyes" ( Matt Dennis Earl Brent) - 3:35
# " Solar" (Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
) - 5:14
# "Overdrive" - 3:22
# "Undecided
"Undecided" is a popular song written by Sid Robin and Charlie Shavers and published in 1938.
Recordings
*The first recording was made by John Kirby and The Onyx Club Boys on October 28, 1938, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 22 ...
" (Charlie Shavers
Charles James Shavers (August 3, 1920 – July 8, 1971) was an American jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, Tommy Dorsey, and Billie Holiday ...
, Sid Robin) - 4:04
# " Never Let Me Go" (Joseph Scott) - 3:40
# " Chasin' the Bird" (Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
) - 4:40
# "Cube Steak" - 3:41
*Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, NYC on July 24, 1956 (tracks 4, 6 & 7), July 25, 1956 (tracks 3, 5, 8 & 10) and July 27, 1956 (tracks 1, 2 & 9)
Personnel
* J. J. Johnson – trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
*Bobby Jaspar
Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer.
Early life
Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up ...
– tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
, flute
*Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
(tracks 1, 2 & 9), Hank Jones (tracks 3-8 & 10) – piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
*Percy Heath
Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout ...
(tracks 4, 6 & 7), Wilbur Little
Wilbur "Doc" Little (March 5, 1928 – May 4, 1987) was an American jazz bassist known for playing hard bop and post-bop.
Little originally played piano, but switched to double bass after serving in the military. In 1949 he moved to Washington, ...
(tracks 1-3, 5 & 8-10) – bass
*Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.
Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...
– drums
References
{{Authority control
Columbia Records albums
J. J. Johnson albums
1956 albums
Albums produced by Cal Lampley