Johnston and Lear - ProfilesArchive

About Me

"I'm looking for a bass player with whom I can develop a relationship."
************************************************************ *****So began the first telephone conversation between pianist Gary Johnston and bassist Denise Lear back in 1993. Understanding the importance of this musical relationship was not lost on either musician with such historic examples as pianist Oscar Peterson and bassist Ray Brown, Keith Jarrett and Gary Peacock, as well as Carla Bley and Steve Swallow. But neither Gary nor Denise could foresee what was to follow.
************************************************************ **** They began performing as a duo and soon formed various groups with singers and instrumentalists, provided music for the theatre, concert hall and club venues and performed on TV and radio both locally and nationally. Eventually their relationship blossomed not only musically but also romantically and on July 20, 1996 they were married.
************************************************************ ***** Since then they have continued to pursue both musical and romantic interests together and the result has been the CD In A Heartbeat released May 2003. Along with Jason Hayward on saxophones, Patrick Boyle on trumpet and Richard Spurrell on drums, the duo presents original instrumental material composed by Gary and performed in a smooth jazz, adult contemporary format.
************************************************************ ******Most recently they have performed with Toronto jazz singer Larra Skye and Newfoundland jazz icon Mary Barry.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/17/2006
Band Website: johnstonandlear.com
Band Members: Gary Johnston - Piano; Denise Lear - Double Bass; often joined by such musical luminaries as Curtis Andrews and Scott Mansfield on drums; Patrick Boyle on Trumpet; Jason Hayward and Greg Bruce on Saxophones
Influences: Keith Jarrett, Dave Young, Jeff Johnston, Jim Brickman,James Taylor, Don Grolnick, Carole King, Dr. Music, Dave Grusin, David Foster, Bruce Hornsby, Elton John, Beatles, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel
Sounds Like: David Benoit, Jim Brickman, Keith Jarrett, George Winston, Liz Story, Piltch and Davis, Davis and Piltch, Donald Fagan, Steve Amirault
Record Label: Independant
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Ringtones now available!!

Our tunes are now available as ringtones at http://www.groupietunes.com/artists/johnstonandlear
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:13:00 PST

J 'n' L now on Napster

Johnston and Learnow on Napster All our tunes are now available on Napster and can be downloaded individually or as an album. Yet another avenue of availability! ...
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:23:00 PST

Leadsheets now available.

Leadsheets now available for all Johnston and Lear tunes on "In A Heartbeart"You can now purchase leadsheets for the tunes on "In A Heartbeat" so you can play them yourself! They can be bought in a si...
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:39:00 PST

Johnston and Lear Website

New Website Up and Running!We are very pleased to announce that as of today, December 9th, 2006 the new and improved J'n'L website has been published to the web. It can be found at the same domain nam...
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Sat, 09 Dec 2006 01:17:00 PST

J 'n' L has a new EPK!

Johnston and Lear has just posted a new and fully comprehensive Electronic Press Kit at http://www.sonicbids.com/JohnstonandLearCheck it out for everything you needed to know about J'n'L.
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:25:00 PST

Johnston and Lear on iTunes!

We have just been posted to iTunes and our tunes are now downloadable one at a time as well as by the entire album. We are already enjoying success as our tunes are being downloaded and enjoyed around...
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:22:00 PST

New Webpage!

New Website Coming Soon! We are currently working on a new website and should have it up and running in a couple of weeks. We will be replacing the old site page by page with more info on J'n'L, a new...
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Tue, 19 Sep 2006 07:47:00 PST

New Favourite Quote!

"There's still a lot of great music to be written in C Major."Arnold Schoenberg
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Sat, 02 Sep 2006 03:17:00 PST

Welcome!

Welcome to our Myspace. Or I guess it should be Ourspace. We have had a whirlwind summer of festivals and gigs all over the place. We had the most fortunate opportunity to play for a wonderful young s...
Posted by Johnston and Lear on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 05:13:00 PST