Características
Trombonist J.J. Johnson quickly adopted the language of bebop and adapted it to his instrument, earning the admiration of artists such as Fats Navarro, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker. After participating in the recording of Miles Davis' first album, released on Blue Note in 1952, Johnson was given the opportunity to record two albums as a bandleader in 1953 and 1954. The first was with a top-notch sextet, in which Johnson was accompanied by brilliant trumpeter Clifford Brown, saxophonist Jimmy Heath, pianist John Lewis, double bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Kenny Clarke. With them, he recorded a varied program that produced lively pieces such as “Turnpike” and beautiful ballads such as “Lover Man”. Some time later, Johnson went to Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio to record the unforgettable pieces of “Old Devil Moon”, the very personal “Coffee Pot” and other classics with a quintet that included pianist Wynton Kelly, double bassist Charles Mingus, drummer Kenny Clarke again, and conguero Sabu Martinez. Richard Cook and Brian Morton consider “The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 1” to be one of the “central documents of postwar jazz” and one of the most important albums in the early days of hard bop. In their “Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD” they award the album the highest rating of four stars and add a “crown” for an exceptional album.
As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series” Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for Blue Note US's analog reissues such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited Japan only UHQCD with OBI stripe. The original recording sessions for “The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol.1” took place on June 22, 1953 at the WOR Studios in New York and September 24, 1954 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey.
UHQCD
1. Turnpike
2. Lover Man
3. Get Happy
4. Sketch 1
5. Capri
6. Jay
7. Old Devil Moon
8. It's You Or No One
9. Too Marvelous For Words
10. Coffee Pot