Darren Johnston

Since settling in San Francisco in 1997, Canada-born trumpeter Darren Johnston has built a web of alliances, from avant-guard excursions with the likes of Myra Melford, and the ROVA saxophone quartet, to straight-ahead jazz outings with the likes of bassist Marcus Shelby, and Canadian pianist David Braid. As a band-leader he is best known for his work with the United Brassworkers Front, whose second CD, “In Between Stories”, was recently released on Evander Music. Another new release in '07, "Reasons for Moving," featured Fred Frith and Larry Ochs, and was released on the Not Two label. Currently, Darren’s focus is on his "Nice Guy Trio", which features the versatile Rob Reich on accordion and Daniel Fabricant on bass, and the "Darren Johnston Quintet," with a new CD due any day on the Clean Feed label. Darren was mentioned in last June’s issue of Down Beat as one of “25 trumpeters for the future.”