Johnny Pace (born 1929,

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and blues vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s, although he had limited recording and was overshadowed by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, he rivalled

Johnny Desmond Johnny Desmond (born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone; November 14, 1919 – September 6, 1985) was an American singer who was popular in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early years Desmond was born Giovanni de Simone in Detroit, Michigan, ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and Bobby Darin

Biography

Pace was born in Paterson, New Jersey and served in the Army USO in Germany where he met his wife Anneliese Glaser, they traveled back to the states in 1954. Johnny and Anneliese had three children Monica, Suzanne and John. Discovered by Chet Baker in 1958, his sole album, ''Chet Baker Introduces Johnny Pace'' was recorded in December of that year for

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...

. Pace was backed on the album by the Chet Baker quintet, featuring such major talents as flautist Herbie Mann and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Joe Berle is credited as the pianist but it is also noted that

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

, who was briefly playing with Chet Baker at the time, played on some tracks. The recording was reissued in 1991 by the

Original Jazz Classics Original Jazz Classics (or OJC) is a record label that founded in 1983 as an imprint of Fantasy Records. Under this name original editions of jazz LPs have been reissued on CD and LP, and formerly on cassette as well. The recordings in the seri ...

label.

Death

Pace died of cancer in 1979, and was survived by his longtime companion Naida.

Discography

* '' Chet Baker Introduces Johnny Pace'' (1958) (Riverside RLP 12-292)

External links

Album listing in Chet Baker discography
* Artist entry at ''Allmusic''
Personal note about album by Pace's daughter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Johnny American jazz singers 1979 deaths 1929 births 20th-century American singers