Howard Johnson profile picture

Howard Johnson

Howard Johnson

About Me


CAREER OVERVIEW
Howard Lewis Johnson was born August 7, 1941, in Montgomery, Alabama. Moved with family to Massillon, Ohio in 1944. Taught himself baritone saxophone in 1954, then learned tuba a year later. Moved to New York City, February, 1963.
  • Charles Mingus - tuba - 1964-66-1972-74
  • Hank Crawford - baritone sax - 1965-67

  • Gil Evans - 1966-1988
    tuba, bari-sax, bass sax, bass clarinet
  • Archie Shepp - tuba - 1966-68
  • Buddy Rich - 1966 - bari-sax and bass clarinet

    • In Los Angeles
  • Gerald Wilson - bari-sax - 1967 and 1972
  • Oliver Nelson -1 967 and 1972 - tuba
  • Quincy Jones - tuba (studio) - 1972
  • Jazz Composer's Orchestra - 1968-70
    (Carla Bley, Mike Mantler, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders)
  • Charlie Hayden's Liberation Music Orchestra - 1968 - tuba (studio)
  • SUBSTRUCTURE /GRAVITY - 1968 - present.

  • Taj Mahal-1971 - tuba, bari-sax, flugelhorn
    ("The Real Thing" live at Fillmore East/Sony-Legacy)
  • Gato Barbieri - 1974-75 - electric bass
  • John Lennon - 1974, 1975-1980 - bari-sax, arranger
  • Saturday Night Live - 1975-1980 - bari-sax, tuba, arranger
    (bandleader in 1979-80 season)
  • The Band - 1971 - ("Rock of Ages") and 1976 ("The Last Waltz")
  • B. B. King - 1973 - bari-sax, arranger
  • Paul Butterfield's Better Days - 1973-74 - bari-sax, arranger
  • Oakland Symphony - 1977 - arranger for Taj Mahal
  • George Gruntz - 1976-present - tuba, bari-sax, bass clarinet.

  • Abdullah Ibrahim - 1987-90 - bari-sax
  • Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition
    1984-87
  • Dizzy Gillespie Big Band 70th Birthday
    European and Japan Tours - 1987
  • George Gruntz's jazz operas
    "The Holy Grail of Jazz and Joy" - 1987
    "Cosmopolitan Greetings"-1988
    (Principal roles)
  • Spike Lee's film soundtracks
    • "School Daze", "Mo' Better Blues"
    "Malcolm X", and "Clockers" - 1990's
  • North German State Radio
    (NDR) Big Band-1991-95

  • George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band (GGCJB) 1st Jazz band tour of Mainland China - 1991
  • J. J. Johnson CD "The Brass Orchestra" - 1996
  • John Scofield CD's "Groove Elation" and "Quiet" - 1995 and 1996
  • GRAVITY - Monterey, Playboy, Berlin, Leverkuesen and Montreal Jazz Festivals - 1996-2000

    • DISCOGRAPHY (All on Verve)
  • "Arrival" (tribute to Pharoah Sanders) 1994
    with NUBIA (Johnson's Hamburg - based band)
  • "GRAVITY!!!" - with GRAVITY - 1995
  • "Right Now!" - with GRAVITY and Taj Mahal - 1998

    • My Interests

    Music:

    Member Since: 2/22/2005
    Band Website: hojozone.com
    Band Members:

    Influences:

    Sounds Like:

    Type of Label: None

    My Blog

    IMA auction - GET SOME GRAVITY BOOTY

    The Institute for Musical Arts is currently fundraising.You can find out about the great work they do at www. ima. org.Howard has donated a Gravity T-shirt, Gravity CD (signed), Mienl poster (signed)P...
    Posted by Howard Johnson on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:45:00 PST

    Gravity T-shirts!

    Just a remider to check out the Gravity T-shirts now available at www.hojzone.com   You can see a picture among the photos here on myspace....
    Posted by Howard Johnson on Tue, 01 Aug 2006 09:34:00 PST

    INTERN needed

    Hey Folks,This is Nedra (Howard's daughter) posting on his behalf.We had a Gravity rehearsal today and it dawned on me that the Gravity books are in some serious disarray and that SOMEONE with time an...
    Posted by Howard Johnson on Tue, 01 Aug 2006 10:42:00 PST