Saturday 20th January, 5:00 PM – House of Hard Bop.
The trombone was one of the front line instruments of the early Dixieland jazz style. The instrument stood next to the trumpet (cornet) and the clarinet. The trumpet is played via valves, while in the clarinet it is the fingers and valves that cover holes. Both playing techniques allow for fast rhythmic playing at a high tempo. That’s difficult for the trombone, with its long sliding tube. Hence its initial supporting role next to the primarily melodic trumpet and clarinet.
Let’s make a time jump to the bebop period – an emancipation took place in the 1940s. That stylistic advance of the trombone was the work of J.J. Johnson.
It was trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie who, in 1946, first heard someone play the trombone in a way he had never heard before. That’s right: Jay Jay. Johnson got into bebop via Gillespie. Gillespie: “I’ve always known that the trombone could be played different, that somebody ‘d catch on one of these days. Man, you’re elected.” After that things went quickly. Soon he was recording with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, etc.
Between 1953 and 1955 Johnson was in the studio for Blue Note several times, in varying line-ups. These recordings were collected on two CDs in 1956, under the title The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Vols. 1 & 2.
With Clifford Brown (trumpet), Jimmy Heath (tenor, baritone), John Lewis (piano), Percy Heath (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums):
– Capri
-Loverman
– Turnpike
– Sketch 1
-It Could Happen to You
– Get Happy
With Wynton Kelly (piano), Charles Mingus (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums), and Sabu Martinez (congas):
– Too Marvelous for Words
-Jay
-Old Devil Moon
– It’s You or No One
– Time After Time
-Coffee Pot
Johnson is the only horn player at this session. Focus! Conguero Sabu Martinez provides the swinging and colourful percussion.
With Hank Mobley (tenor), Horace Silver (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums):
-Pennies from Heaven
– Viscosity
House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke
Photo: Frank Driggs Collection/© Archive Photos
