Treasures In The Attic: Finding A Jazz Master's Lost Orchestral Music

Photo: William Gottlieb

by MARIN ALSOP, February 01, 2013 5:34 PM

My first encounter with the name James P. Johnson was a fleeting reference to the composer in a liner note for a Gershwin recording, but it was enough to pique my curiosity. I contacted Robert Kimball, the author of the notes, and he gave me some intriguing background on Johnson.

In addition to composing the singular piece of music that came to symbolize the 1920s in America, "The Charleston," Johnson aspired to compose music for symphony orchestra and had actually written several orchestral pieces that were premiered at Carnegie Hall in the early 1940s. I was beyond eager to get my hands on that music, but Kimball was quite discouraging. He told me that all of the parts and scores were long gone; there was no existing recording of the Carnegie Hall event, and there was no chance that I could find that music. He said many people had tried unsuccessfully over the years.

Little did he know that "can't" is my four-letter motivator!

I became obsessed with James P. Johnson, and my quest to find, restore and revive his orchestral music led me — along with my dear friend and willing collaborator Leslie Stifelman (currently music director of Chicago on Broadway) — on a six-year odyssey in search of Johnsons' long-lost orchestral music.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/02/02/170864270/treasures-in-the-attic-finding-a-jazz-masters-lost-orchestral-music?ft=1&f=10003

James P. Johnson - Snowy Morning Blues

reviewby Scott Yanow
James P. Johnson was one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, and in the 1920s was considered the "king of the stride piano." This Decca reissue CD contains a great deal of valuable music. Johnson is first heard on four classic piano solos from 1930 ("You've Got to Be Modernistic" and "Jingles" are particularly memorable) and then on eight Fats Waller-associated tunes in duets with drummer Eddie Dougherty from 1944; the latter performances differ from the eight identical Waller songs that Johnson had recorded earlier in the same year as solos.

Since Waller (who had passed away in 1943) was his close friend and former student, there is a lot of emotion in the tributes, but also much joy. This highly recommended CD concludes with Johnson romping on eight of his own timeless compositions, including "Carolina Shout," "Old Fashioned Love," and "If I Could Be With You."
Read more: http://www.allmusic.com/album/snowy-morning-blues-mw0000269486

James P. Johnson Rent Party at Smalls in NY

James P. Johnson, the father of the Harlem school of stride piano, is buried in an unmarked grave in Maspeth, Queens. On October 4th, 2009, Smalls Jazz Club in New York's Greenwich Village will host a "rent party" to raise money for a monument to the pianist.

The event runs from 1:00 to 9:00 pm, and will feature an exhibit from the James P. Johnson archive at the Rutgers Institute for Jazz Studies, a symposium by Johnson scholar Scott Brown, and solo piano performances by Dick Hyman, Ethan Iverson, Ted Rosenthal, Terry Waldo, Mike Lipskin, Ehud Asherie, Conal Fowlkes, Spike Wilner, and Aaron Diehl.
http://jazz.about.com/b/2009/09/11/james-p-johnson-rent-party-at-smalls-in-ny.htm