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Jef Lee Johnson

Jef Lee Johnson is a true American original and a true American gift to the musical world. Guys like Jef are the embodiment of every reason to use the phrase, "He's got more talent in his pinkie than so and so has in his entire body!" Problem is, especially lately, relatively dawdling critics like myself can't keep up! See, anyone who knows who Jef Lee Johnson is knows he's rippin' it up. He's rippin' it up so prolifically these days he's finished up another record, called "St. Somebody", during the time it took me to get this interview down on paper, or electrons, or whatever this interview is "down" on.

Jef Lee has played since he was a young boy growing up and playing up in the church his grandfather built in Germantown, Philadelphia, PA. He plays everything- including guitar, bass, keyboards, sax, drums and drum machines, and is a potent vocalist of broad and powerful range as well. But it's on guitar that he burns most incandescent, conjuring jawdroppingly brilliant, careening stylistic collisions of legato-laden fusion, angular outness, and state-of-the-art acid-funk. Jef's concept, while wholly and truly original, justly deserves mention alongside such profound, formidable masters as Hendrix and Holdsworth.

Jef has a highly expert foot in many camps, contributing to the point of collaboration with such heavyweights as James Carter, Rachelle Ferrell and George Duke, and touring and recording with Erkyah Badu and D'Angelo. Recordings with Rob Reddy and Ben Schachter show his expert "downtown" side, while sessions with polyrhythmic master Ronald Shannon Jackson and Jamaaladeen Tacuma show his volatile funk fusion side. Besides, who can possibly have reservations about the only man on the planet to have played with McCoy Tyner and Sister Sledge on the same day! Did I mention his bass playing alone has landed him in high-echelon session-land, or are Billy Joel and Roberta Flack too obscure as references?

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Wide Open Jazz and Beyond

Ode to Jef Lee Johnson: The Promise of Lovolution

Read "Ode to Jef Lee Johnson:  The Promise of Lovolution" reviewed by Charles Blass


“When the music's happening, life is happening.... Why must we only join hands after the storm?... How true are you? Nothing else even matters." --Jef Lee JohnsonJef Lee Johnson, prolific, virtuosic, humble, was in some ways not made for this world. “I'm over the world," he sang. He was certainly made for music though.Time to tell the truth about Jef Lee Johnson. For too many, it's better late than never. His brilliance was evident enough, however ...

6
Interview

Jef Lee Johnson: It's Been So Long Since I've Seen with My Eyes

Read "Jef Lee Johnson: It's Been So Long Since I've Seen with My Eyes" reviewed by Phil DiPietro


[ Editor's Note: This 2002 article was republished in memory of Jef Lee Johnson who died at age 54 on January 28, 2013. ]Jef Lee Johnson is a true American original and a true American gift to the musical world. Guys like Jef are the embodiment of every reason to use the phrase, “He's got more talent in his pinkie than so and so has in his entire body!" Problem is, especially lately, relatively dawdling critics like myself ...

223
Album Review

Jef Lee Johnson (and the Wordy Mimes): Hellion

Read "Hellion" reviewed by Phil DiPietro


A 2002 AAJ interview with Jef Lee Johnson, who can virtuosically play anything with strings on it, showed that in conversation and in music, he's an eclectic, ripping headlong through a gamut of free-associations and precise distillations. Here's one capped with an analogy musicians should swear by: “I have to put these records out myself. The music is to be heard, not just me sitting around and improving upon what's been done. It's like having paintings hanging in the house. ...

174
Album Review

Ben Schachter and Sung/Unsung: Nothingman

Read "Nothingman" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Philadelphia-area saxophonist Ben Schachter plays a wide range of reed instruments extremely well, although his primary voice is the tenor saxophone. He's been influenced by Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, yet his burly tenor sound is clearly his own, and his approach is both original and personal. If the music on his self-produced Nothingman is any indication, Schachter deserves to be much better known.

Sung/Unsung is the name of Schachter's current band, which pivots on the interplay between Schachter and ...

223
Album Review

Ben Schachter & Sung/Unsung: Nothingman

Read "Nothingman" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


With a sharp edge that cuts on the side of dynamic playing and improvisation, Nothingman is the latest release by reedist and bandleader Ben Schachter. The Philadelphia-based musician has earned a reputation as one who treads clear of tepid jazz waters in favor of progressive and free flowing ones, as attested on his recent recordings Inside, Looking Out and Missing Beloved.

Schachter's new group Sung/Unsung is appropriately titled as he joined by highly accomplished (if not widely known) musicians--bassist Matthew ...

254
Album Review

Jef Lee Johnson, Sonny Thompson and Michael Bland: News From the Jungle

Read "News From the Jungle" reviewed by Phil DiPietro


A quintessential slab of guitar-based, acid-drenched, New Power Generation/ Blackrock Coalition crossbred funk brought to you from the recording studios of Minneapolis... starring a now officially, ridiculously, inexcusably under-recognized guitar god/genius/freak from Philadelphia, all coming to you through the good graces of... France?The most intriguing--bizarre, even--musical by-product of Vivendi's corporate devouring of Universal has been the spending of significant francs on some super-funky and super-modern releases with connections to the Minneapolis area. These include the new Happy Apple ...

140
Album Review

Jef Lee Johnson: St. Somebody

Read "St. Somebody" reviewed by Phil DiPietro


In an interview that I recently had the pleasure to conduct with the multifaceted, multitalented, multi-instrumentalist--hey, just plain old multi Jef Lee Johnson, there came time for a pointed exchange. Acknowledging the jazzier elements of his career, but also appreciating his broad knowledge and deep understanding of all styles, I asked if he would ever make a record where he completely immersed himself in the “pop" or R'n'B worlds. After all, anyone who has pulled stints with D'Angelo, Ronald Shannon ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz Bridge Presents Jef Lee Johnson In Collingswood On Thurs. May 3rd!

Jazz Bridge Presents Jef Lee Johnson In Collingswood On Thurs. May 3rd!

Source: Jim Miller

Appearing at the Collingswood Community Center, 30 E. Collings Ave, in Collingswood NJ, on May 3rd for the last Jazz Bridge concert of the season will be guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, bassist Chico Huff, and drummer Charles Pateirno. One Show: 7:30-9 p.m. Admission: $10/$5 for students. No advance sales. Free Buffet! For info, call 856-858-8914. Jazz Bridge, a 501C3 nonprofit that assists our local jazz and blues musicians in crisis, is sponsoring this concert. Jef Lee Johnson is a true ...

131

Performance / Tour

Jef Lee Johnson and Rob Reddy Trio at Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn May

Jef Lee Johnson and Rob Reddy Trio at Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn May

Source: Improvised Communications

25On Friday, May 25th at 9:00 p.m., the Reddy Music Concert Series will present The Jef Lee Johnson Group and the Rob Reddy Trio at Brooklyn's Jalopy Theater. This will be the second event presented by this new monthly series, which is curated by saxophonist/ composer Rob Reddy as an extension of his label, Reddy Music.

Philadelphia-based guitarist/composer Jef Lee Johnson has appeared on more than 115 recordings, working with everyone from Billy Joel to The Roots to Ronald Shannon ...

"Everything Jef Lee Johnson does is very tasteful. He has this innate, uncanny ability to interpret my music the way I envision it. Within one song he can span the whole gamut of emotions on his guitar." — Rachelle Farrell

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Thisness

Jazzman
2007

buy

Hellion

Dreambox Media
2005

buy

Nothingman

Ben-Jam Music
2004

buy

Laughing Boy

Jazzman
2003

buy

News From the Jungle

Verve Music Group
2003

buy

St. Somebody

Dreambox Media
2002

buy

This is This

From: Things Are Things
By Jef Lee Johnson

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