Budd Johnson

[Chuck Nessa]

I really like Budd Johnson - had a bit of personal dealings with him while working on the Chicago Jazz Festival and he was an amazingly sweet guy. I really regret not taking his advice to visit his home next time I was in NYC.

Gee, did I forget to say I think he's a major figure in the history of the music?

His recordings are a "sometimes great" and sometimes he's just under great. Love his work with Gil Evans, Randy Weston and other isolated dates like the Prestige Clark Terry All American session.

For my taste, he seems to coast a bit if not challenged by the material or other players.

Anyone here really familiar with his tenure with the Quincy Jones band around 1960? Had a couple of Mercury lps in school, but no memories. I see there is a fair amount of material from the band's Euro tour. Can anyone shed light on Budd's contributions?

[golfcrazy1984]

I really like Budd Johnson - had a bit of personal dealings with him while working on the Chicago Jazz Festival and he was an amazingly sweet guy. I really regret not taking his advice to visit his home next time I was in NYC.

Gee, did I forget to say I think he's a major figure in the history of the music?

His recordings are a "sometimes great" and sometimes he's just under great. Love his work with Gil Evans, Randy Weston and other isolated dates like the Prestige Clark Terry All American session.

For my taste, he seems to coast a bit if not challenged by the material or other players.

Anyone here really familiar with his tenure with the Quincy Jones band around 1960? Had a couple of Mercury lps in school, but no memories. I see there is a fair amount of material from the band's Euro tour. Can anyone shed light on Budd's contributions?

Budd Johnson is great! I too think sometimes he coasted, but when you had that much skill, it still sounds good. I think he was the one who showed Ben Webster how to play the saxophone when he was in Kansas City.

At any rate, I own the Mosaic Quincy Jones ABC/MERCURY Big Band Jazz Sessions, and it includes Budd's tenure with the band (excluding perhaps a few live recorded dates from Europe). You can check Mosaic's discography for exact information, but I believe he can be heard on the following LP's: "The Birth of a Band", "The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones", "I Dig Dancers", "The Zurich Concert". There might be more but that's all I saw. He does have some great, swingin' solos and he's also heard on soprano leading the saxes on the tune "Blues in the Night" and also on soprano on "Choo Choo Ch' Boogie". I am really pleased owning this set, the sound is great, the bands are superb (a lot of features for Phil Woods, and a STACKED trumpet section including Ernie Royal on lead).

Again, I do believe there are some live recordings that aren't in the Mosaic set, but you hear some good Budd Johnson solos, as well as Benny Golson, Sam "The Man" Taylor, Eric Dixon, etc.

He also did a studio recording with his brother Keg on trombone (early 60s), that is good too. Hope that helps!

I really like Budd Johnson - had a bit of personal dealings with him while working on the Chicago Jazz Festival and he was an amazingly sweet guy. I really regret not taking his advice to visit his home next time I was in NYC.

Gee, did I forget to say I think he's a major figure in the history of the music?

His recordings are a "sometimes great" and sometimes he's just under great. Love his work with Gil Evans, Randy Weston and other isolated dates like the Prestige Clark Terry All American session.

For my taste, he seems to coast a bit if not challenged by the material or other players.

Anyone here really familiar with his tenure with the Quincy Jones band around 1960? Had a couple of Mercury lps in school, but no memories. I see there is a fair amount of material from the band's Euro tour. Can anyone shed light on Budd's contributions?

Budd Johnson is great! I too think sometimes he coasted, but when you had that much skill, it still sounds good. I think he was the one who showed Ben Webster how to play the saxophone when he was in Kansas City.

At any rate, I own the Mosaic Quincy Jones ABC/MERCURY Big Band Jazz Sessions, and it includes Budd's tenure with the band (excluding perhaps a few live recorded dates from Europe). You can check Mosaic's discography for exact information, but I believe he can be heard on the following LP's: "The Birth of a Band", "The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones", "I Dig Dancers", "The Zurich Concert". There might be more but that's all I saw. He does have some great, swingin' solos and he's also heard on soprano leading the saxes on the tune "Blues in the Night" and also on soprano on "Choo Choo Ch' Boogie". I am really pleased owning this set, the sound is great, the bands are superb (a lot of features for Phil Woods, and a STACKED trumpet section including Ernie Royal on lead).

Again, I do believe there are some live recordings that aren't in the Mosaic set, but you hear some good Budd Johnson solos, as well as Benny Golson, Sam "The Man" Taylor, Eric Dixon, etc.

He also did a studio recording with his brother Keg on trombone (early 60s), that is good too. Hope that helps!

There is also a DVD from the Euro Quincy tour on Jazz Icons, I think Budd is on that too.

Edited September 27, 2011 by Jazz Nut

[Larry Kart]

Budd is in fine form on the first concert (he's not on the second) from the Jazz Icons Quincy Jones DVD, especially on "Tickle Toe" and "Big Red." He also solos on "Birth of Band" and "Lester Leaps In." Great to see the passion with which he digs into his section work, too. Also, some nice shots of Quentin Jackson reacting with pleasure to the work of drummer Joe Harris and other members of the ensemble. That was quite a band.

[Guy Berger]

Wasn't he also an arranger for (and performer on) some of the early Atlantic hits?

[Chuck Nessa]

And the Earl Hines band before that. Come on folks.

[BeBop]

Love Budd. My first thought - before I got to your mention on Earl Hines (another "great" in my mind) - I was thinking of one of my favorite Budd Johnson albums - Earl Hines/Budd Johnson. Or check out this onewith Mr. 5X5. I'll limit myself to just one more treasure, in concert. And this touches on just one aspect of a great, long career.

[jeffcrom]

I'm not an expert on the Quincy Jones big band, but....

This is a subject dear to me. When I was twelve and had just taken up the saxophone, but sweet mom brought home this album for me:

Budd Johnson's Ya! Ya! on Argo. It was the first jazz album I owned, and it still has a place of honor in my collection. I'm sure she just got it because it had a picture of a guy with a saxophone on the cover. Saxophone or not, I was disappointed that it wasn't a rock album like my brother got at the same time. But I listened to it, and liked half of it right away. And I kept listening, and pretty soon I liked all of it.

Not only was this album my introduction to jazz, it was my introduction to avant-garde jazz. Richard Davis played on half of the tracks, including "Exotique," on which he plays a wonderfully bizarre arco solo, full of dissonances and quarter tones. It fascinated me right away. So I blame, Richard Davis, Budd Johnson, and my mom for the kind of music I prefer to play now.

Budd Johnson is still pretty special to me.

Edited September 28, 2011 by jeffcrom

[Chuck Nessa]

Does anyone else here know his recordings on Clark's All American? I have mentioned it in a few threads over the years and don't remember anyone responding. It is included in this Prestige 2fer cd:

[Larry Kart]

Does anyone else here know his recordings on Clark's All American? I have mentioned it in a few threads over the years and don't remember anyone responding. It is included in this Prestige 2fer cd:

Never knew this existed. Need to get cracking.

[medjuck]

And the Earl Hines band before that. Come on folks.

In the mid-sixties he spent quite a bit of time (IIRC) in Earl Hine's Quartet. That's when I saw/heard him.

[Free For All]

I recently picked this one up.

[gmonahan]

I recently picked this one up.

That's a fine record.

gregmo

[brownie]

Lots of respects for Budd Johnson whom I was privileged to meet when I was allowed to attend the first rehearsals of the Quincy Jones big band in Paris in 1959. What a nice man he was! And what a band it was!

I have that Clark Terry 'All American' Moodsville LP (cover design by Don Schlitten). Good arrangements by Oliver Nelson:

Also highly recommended are the albums he recorded for the Black and Blue label:

- Mr Bechet (with Earl Hines)

- Ya! Ya! (with Charlie Shavers)

- The Last Session (under Shavers' name)

[JohnS]

Gil Evans' La Nevada (Out Of The Cool) wouldn't be the same without Budd. Fine solo.

[sidewinder]

Budd is in fine form on the first concert (he's not on the second) from the Jazz Icons Quincy Jones DVD, especially on "Tickle Toe" and "Big Red." He also solos on "Birth of Band" and "Lester Leaps In." Great to see the passion with which he digs into his section work, too. Also, some nice shots of Quentin Jackson reacting with pleasure to the work of drummer Joe Harris and other members of the ensemble. That was quite a band.

That is a fantastic DVD and Budd Johnson's performance in the first, Belgian TV performance is the highlight for me (closely followed by Julius Watkins). In fact, good though the Swiss performance on that DVD is, there seems to be a noticeable drop in energy and depth of ensemble sound compared with the Belgian show which I put down in large part to Johnson not being present.

'Passion' - yes, that entirely sums up the Budd Johnson performance on that first show. 100% committed.

Edited September 28, 2011 by sidewinder

[king ubu]

Love Budd Johnson!

Not so sure about that Terry album though, to be honest.

Favorites are many... the Quincy and Gil Evans sides, the late recordings with Charlie Shavers that brownie mentioned, then there's a great Basie jam with him and Jaws (who really has to be on guard there!)

The two Riversides are fine, too - I think I prefer the one with brother Keg over the trumpet galore one:

There's some fine Johnson (and lots of fine music) on this twofer by Claude Hopkins, too:

Then there's this fine one from Black & Blue (with great soprano!):

[Niko]

Does anyone else here know his recordings on Clark's All American? I have mentioned it in a few threads over the years and don't remember anyone responding. It is included in this Prestige 2fer cd:

i am really surprised to see brownie and you supporting this album which i really had trouble listening to for more than a few seconds in a row (largely due to the arrangements/compositions which come before and after the solos...); will have to give it another chance...

[mikeweil]

I have that Clark Terry CD, will pull it out and play later today. I love Budd's playing, too - I was glad he was given appropriate credit in Ira Gitler's Swing To Bop - I do not expect every musician to record historically significant things each time he walks into a studio, but have the utmost respect for anybody who always delivers and never plays a bad note - Johnson was one of those who did. I have reached a point where I get any album with him I come across - he's always a pleasure to listen to, and had his own voice, which is as sweet as some of you report, but exuberant just as well. To me, he's one of those standing tall in the second row, right behind Hawk and Pres and the like.

That Quincy Jones 4 CD set recently issued has good sound, and enough Johnson solos to justify a purchase - if you want to know exactly how many solos there are, you will have to wait until this evening.

[david weiss]

When Budd was older, he taught at Queens College and directed the "jazz ensemble". There wasn't much of a jazz program then and certainly not enough musicians for a big band. I think I was in high school still (a senior probably) and just sitting in on the class trying to get experience. He was pretty nice about it (I don't think he even cared whether I supposed to be there or not). He bought in some nice arrangements he wrote on some standards and even some modal tunes like Maiden Voyage. He was getting up there and was usually pretty cranky. He would count off a tune and then sit down a take a hit from the fifth of whatever he had in his pocket and listen to us destroy his arrangements. If it got real bad he would jump up and cut us off (once dropping his bottle which pissed him off more). Sometimes he would pick up a horn (I can't remember if he bought his own or would just grab a student's) and count off the band again and take a few choruses of the most burning tenor I had ever heard up to that point in my young life. I was amazed at the ease and dexterity of his playing. I think he told us that he was not allowed to play anymore because of a heart condition (I assume he wasn't supposed to drink either). After a few months, I got bold enough to ask him if I could solo on a tune (Confirmation in Eb if I recall correctly). He scoffed at me and said really but let me play. I scuffled through but after that he was much nicer to me. Don't get me wrong, he was grumpy but of course also quite sweet. I think it was my first exposure to a real jazz musician and I'll never forget him.

[mikeweil]

That Claude Hopkins and the Black & Blue sessions are on my wish list ...

[brownie]

i am really surprised to see brownie and you supporting this album which i really had trouble listening to for more than a few seconds in a row (largely due to the arrangements/compositions which come before and after the solos...); will have to give it another chance...

The main problem with 'All American' is the adaptation of the show tunes. Not the best from Broadway.

Nat Hentoff starts his liner notes with this 'polite' indication:

This one surprised all the musicians concerned. The composers of All American (and before that of Bye Bye Birdie) are Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Both are knowledgeable writers for the current state of the Broadway musical, but no one would claim that either of both has more than a peripheral acquaintance with jazz.

The album's positive aspect are the various solos (from Terry, Budd Johnson, Eddie Costa mainly).

Even Duke Ellington had problems making a successful album out of the show material!

[thomastreichler]

Budd Johnson can be heard to good advantage on Benny Carter's "Live And Well In Japan", a Pablo album of a 1977 live concert featuring (besides Carter and Johnson) Joe Newman, Cat Anderson, Britt Woodman, Cecil Payne, Nat Pierce, Mundell Lowe, George Duvivier and Harold Jones.

Another fine album is "Blues A La Mode" on Felsted, that can be obtained as part of the Complete Felsted box sets by Solar or Fresh Sound respectively (the session is also on a Lonehill reissue called "The Stanley Dance Sessions").

[AllenLowe]

if you can find it there's an amazing (and sonically very difficult) cut of Dizzy's small band from 1944 or so with Budd Johnson and George Wallington - probably an air shot, Great music, very early bebop band. I have it on one of those French historic CDs (white cover). I think I also used it on Devilin Tune.

I love David Weiss's story - New York in the '70s was kind of amazing - when I think of all the musicians who were still around, like Dickey Wells, Earl Warren, Eddie Durham, Sam Price, yikes, it was like a moveable enclyclopedia of jazz. I was at Jimmy Ryan's one night in the middle '70s, maybe, and who walked by but Budd Johnson with his friend Al Sears. Wish I had a video cam in those days.

Edited September 28, 2011 by AllenLowe

[Hot Ptah]

When Budd was older, he taught at Queens College and directed the "jazz ensemble". There wasn't much of a jazz program then and certainly not enough musicians for a big band. I think I was in high school still (a senior probably) and just sitting in on the class trying to get experience. He was pretty nice about it (I don't think he even cared whether I supposed to be there or not). He bought in some nice arrangements he wrote on some standards and even some modal tunes like Maiden Voyage. He was getting up there and was usually pretty cranky. He would count off a tune and then sit down a take a hit from the fifth of whatever he had in his pocket and listen to us destroy his arrangements. If it got real bad he would jump up and cut us off (once dropping his bottle which pissed him off more). Sometimes he would pick up a horn (I can't remember if he bought his own or would just grab a student's) and count off the band again and take a few choruses of the most burning tenor I had ever heard up to that point in my young life. I was amazed at the ease and dexterity of his playing. I think he told us that he was not allowed to play anymore because of a heart condition (I assume he wasn't supposed to drink either). After a few months, I got bold enough to ask him if I could solo on a tune (Confirmation in Eb if I recall correctly). He scoffed at me and said really but let me play. I scuffled through but after that he was much nicer to me. Don't get me wrong, he was grumpy but of course also quite sweet. I think it was my first exposure to a real jazz musician and I'll never forget him.

Maybe Budd wasn't supposed to play when he taught at Queens College, but he played with Jay McShann in 1984 in Kansas City. The Westin Crown Center hotel had a very shortlived jazz club in its lobby, the Signboard Lounge, which booked name acts who would play every night for a week or two, until the policy was quickly discontinued. The night that we saw McShann there, the crowd was less than 25 people. Budd died in the middle of the engagement, having played his last gig there.

[mikeweil]

Does anyone else here know his recordings on Clark's All American? I have mentioned it in a few threads over the years and don't remember anyone responding. It is included in this Prestige 2fer cd:

Just had a listen - the sound Oliver Nelson gets from only four horns is amazing! Johnson's solos are enthusiastic - the themes are typical for a broadway show and a little superficial, but what these guys make out of it is very good music.