Bunk Johnson
Due to the difference of opinion between his followers (who claimed he was a brilliant stylist) and his detractors (who felt that his playing was worthless), Bunk Johnson was a controversial figure in the mid-'40s, when he made a most unlikely comeback. The truth is somewhere in between.
Bunk Johnson, who tended to exaggerate, claimed that he was born in 1879 and that he played with Buddy Bolden in New Orleans, but it was discovered that he was actually a decade younger. He did have a pretty tone and, although not an influence on Louis Armstrong (as he often stated), he was a major player in New Orleans starting around 1910 when he joined the Eagle Band. Johnson was active in the South until the early '30s, but did not record during that era. Discovered in the latter part of the decade by Bill Russell and Fred Ramsey, he was profiled in the 1939 book Jazzmen. A collection was taken up to get Johnson new teeth and a horn. In 1942, he privately recorded in New Orleans, and the next year he was in San Francisco playing with the wartime edition of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. An alcoholic, Johnson's playing tended to be erratic, and when Sidney Bechet recruited him for a band in 1945, he essentially drank himself out of the group. In 1946, Bunk Johnson led a group that included the nucleus of the ensemble George Lewis would make famous a few years later, but Johnson disliked the playing of the primitive New Orleans musicians. He was more comfortable the following year heading a unit filled with skilled swing players, and his final album (Columbia's The Last Testament of a Great Jazzman) was one of his best recordings. In 1948, the trumpeter (who was only 59 but seemed much older) returned to Louisiana and retired. Many of Bunk Johnson's better recordings have been reissued on CD by Good Time Jazz and American Music.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
-
Bunk Johnson in San Francisco
Jazz - Pubblicato da American Music il 9 dic 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bunk and the New Orleans Revival (1942-1947)
Jazz - Pubblicato da Jasmine Records il 25 set 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Orleans Jazz Men, Vol. 1
Jazz - Pubblicato da Ap music il 15 ago 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bunk's Blues
Jazz - Pubblicato da Music Today Records il 26 feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Last Testament Of A Great New Orleans Jazzman
Jazz - Pubblicato da CoolNote il 31 ago 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rare and Unissued Masters: Vol 1 / 1943-1945
Jazz - Pubblicato da American Music il 27 ott 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bunk & Mutt in New York - 1947
Jazz - Pubblicato da American Music il 5 dic 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prelude to the Revival, Vol. 2
Jazz - Pubblicato da American Music il 22 gen 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Classic Years
Jazz - Pubblicato da Sleeping Giant Music il 19 set 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Orleans Legends
Bunk Johnson, Kid Ory, Kid Rena
Jazz - Pubblicato da CoolNote il 31 lug 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Snag It
Jazz - Pubblicato da Digital World Contents S.A.S. il 18 mag 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bunk Johnson Tiger Rag
Jazz - Pubblicato da Giggling Gecko il 17 feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Nocturne 3 - Bunk & Bechet in Boston
Jazz - Pubblicato da Jazz Crusade il 9 set 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When I Leave This World Behind
Jazz - Pubblicato da RAZERREC il 10 mag 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Blue Bells Goodbye
Jazz - Pubblicato da Birdy Music il 4 ott 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bunk Johnson and his Superior Jazz Band
Lounge - Pubblicato da Ancien Prodige il 13 apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bunk Johnson - The Roaring Forties
Jazz - Pubblicato da Wamsenzo il 19 set 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -