Randy Barksdale Johnston (born December 5, 1956) is an American

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 m ...

guitarist.

Career

The Beatles's performance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' inspired Johnston to start playing guitar in childhood. He heard jazz for the first time on the album ''The Smithsonian Collection of Jazz'' and was influenced by guitarists

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

and

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

. Johnston's family moved to Richmond, Virginia, when he was thirteen. He was a member of rock bands that performed at parties and school dances. In the late 1970s he attended the University of Miami, occasionally involved in jam sessions at a Unitarian Church with Ira Sullivan. In the early 1980s he moved to New York City and worked with

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

, then as a sideman with

Houston Person Houston Person (born November 10, 1934) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. He received the ...

and

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene A ...

. Person produced his first album, ''Walk On'', which was engineered by

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...

. He has worked with

Joey DeFrancesco Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...

Lou Donaldson Lou Donaldson (born November 1, 1926) is an American retired jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop ...

, Lee Konitz, and Lonnie Smith.

Discography

* '' Walk On'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, 1991) * '' Jubilation'' (Muse, 1992

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...

* ''In A-Chord'' (Muse, 1994

995 Year 995 ( CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gain ...

* ''Somewhere in the Night'' (HighNote, 1997) * ''

Detour Ahead "Detour Ahead" is a jazz standard with words and music credited to Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo, and Lou Carter. The song was written in 1948 while Carter, Ellis and Frigo were part of The Soft Winds, a group they created after leaving Jimmy Dorsey' ...

'' (HighNote, 1998

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

* ''Riding the Curve'' (J-Curve, 1998) * ''Homage'' (J-Curve, 1999

000 Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * "Triple Zero", a song by AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes'' * Th ...

* ''Hit & Run'' (HighNote, 2002) * ''Is It You'' (HighNote, 2004

005 ''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...

* ''People Music'' (Random Act, 2011)

As sideman

With

* '' The Party'' (Muse, 1989 991 * '' Why Not!'' (Muse, 1990 991 * ''

Christmas with Houston Person and Friends ''Christmas with Houston Person and Friends'' (also released as ''Santa Baby'') is an album of Christmas music by saxophonist Houston Person that was released by Muse in 1994. Reception In his review on AllMusic, Scott Yanow stated "Tenor-sa ...

'' (Muse, 1994) * '' All Soul'' (HighNote, 2005) * '' Moment to Moment'' (HighNote, 2010) With others *

, ''The Champ'' (HighNote, 1998

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...

, ''Relaxing at Sea'' (Chiaroscuro, 2000) * Della Griffin, ''Travelin' Light'' (Muse, 1994) * Della Griffin, ''I'll Get by'' (Muse, 1996) *

, '' Sugar'' (Muse, 1989 990 * Etta Jones, '' Christmas with Etta Jones'' (Muse, 1990) * Eddie Landsberg, ''Remembering Eddie Jefferson'' (Berghem, 2002) *

Johnny Lytle Johnny Dillard Lytle (October 13, 1932 in Springfield, Ohio – December 15, 1995 in Springfield) was a jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Life and career Lytle grew up in Springfield, Ohio in a family of musicians, the son of a trumpeter father ...

, ''Possum Grease'' (Muse, 1995) * Jack McDuff, ''Another Real Good'un'' (Muse, 1990) * Irene Reid, ''One Monkey Don't Stop No Show'' (Savant, 2002) *

Bria Skonberg Bria Skonberg is a Canadian jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Early life Skonberg was born in Chilliwack, British Columbia; her great-grandparents on her father's side came from Sweden. She took piano lessons in elementary school, switching to trumpe ...

, ''So Is the Day'' (Random Act, 2012)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Randy American jazz guitarists Jazz musicians from Michigan Muse Records artists HighNote Records artists Living people 1956 births University of Hartford Hartt School faculty Guitarists from Michigan 20th-century American guitarists