''The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1'' is the name used for two different but related albums by American jazz trombonist

J. J. Johnson J.J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop. Biograph ...

. The 1989 CD release (CDP 7 81505 2, etc.) is a reissue of the 1953 10-inch

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

album '' Jay Jay Johnson with Clifford Brown...'' (BLP 5028) with three alternate takes (bonus tracks) from the same recording session.Blue Note discography
accessed September 14, 2010 The 1955 12-inch LP version is a compilation of (most of) the ''...with Clifford Brown'' album combined with (most of) the material from the 1954 10-inch LP release, '' The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2'' (BLP 5057). At the time of the 1953 recording session, Johnson had withdrawn from full-time playing to work as a blueprint inspector.

Reception

The

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 databas ...

review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "Although Johnson has a couple of features,

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", an ...

largely steals the show".Yanow, S.

Allmusic Review 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 databas ...

accessed September 14, 2010 ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' included both volumes of ''The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson'' in its "Core Collection", and assigned its "crown" accolade, along with a four-star rating (of a possible four stars), to both albums. ''Penguin'' editors Richard Cook and Brian Morton called the first volume "one of the central documents of post-war jazz."

Release history

Part of the album's content was originally released as part of Blue Note's 10-inch Modern Jazz 5000 Series, as BLP 5028, entitled ''Jay Jay Johnson with Clifford Brown''. When reissued in Blue Note's 12-inch 1500 series of LPs, tracks from the original 1953 recording session were spread over two albums and combined with tracks from a later session (which had been released as ''The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2'' (BLP 5057)), producing ''The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 1'' (BLP 1505) and ''The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 2'' (BLP 1506). The CD reissue put the original six tracks from BLP 5028 together with three alternative takes from the same session and had the title ''The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 1'', although variations in punctuation do occur."The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 1
AllMusic.
Retrieved 6 May 2013. Although it uses the same artwork as BLP 1505 it is essentially an expanded reissue of the original "Jay Jay Johnson With..." 10 inch album (BLP 5028) rather than a reissue of "The Eminent...Volume 1" (BLP 1505) compilation itself.

Track listing

The 1989/1997 Blue Note CD re-issues (CDP 7 81505 2) include the same content as the 2001 CD, but the tracks are arranged chronologically by recording date.

Personnel

June 22, 1953, recording session. LP tracks 1–5 and all CD tracks: *

J.J. Johnson J.J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop. Biography ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(except "It Could Happen To You") *

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually co ...

–

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 th ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(except "It Could Happen To You") *

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

–

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 keyboa ...

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 ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

September 24, 1954, recording session. LP tracks 6–10: *J.J. Johnson – trombone *

Wynton Kelly Wynton Charles Kelly (December 2, 1931 – April 12, 1971) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of ...

– piano *

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

– bass *Kenny Clarke – drums *

Sabu Martinez Louis "Sabu" Martinez (July 14, 1930 – January 13, 1979) was an American conguero of Puerto Rican descent. A prominent player in the Cubop movement, Martinez appeared on many important recordings and live performances during that period. Martin ...

–

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s (except, "It's You or No One")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1, The Blue Note Records albums J. J. Johnson albums 1955 albums