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Durham, NC 27708
919-684-2957
wxdu@duke.edu
WXDU 88.7 FM
PO Box 90689
Duke Station
Durham, NC 27708
919-684-2957
wxdu@duke.edu
Artist | Song | Album | Label | Comments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
James P. Johnson | The Harlem Strut | The James P. Johnson Collection 1921-49 | Acrobat | today's show is a tribute to James P. Johnson! This was one of his first recordings, from 1921 | |||
James P. Johnson | Carolina Shout | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1921, one of Johnson's great ragtime compositions | |||
James P. Johnson | Bleeding Heart Blues | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1923 depending on how you define jazz, you could call either this or Carolina Shout the first recorded jazz piano solo. Jelly Roll Morton's solor recordings were a few months after this | |||
Jimmy Johnson | Scouting Around | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1923 | |||
James P. Johnson (piano roll) | The Charleston | The James P. Johnson Collection 1921-49 | Acrobat | rec 1925 Johnson wrote "The Charleston" for the show Runnin' Wild. This was a piano roll, Johnson never recorded this song even though it was his most successful composition. There is a radio transcription of him performing it for the radio show This Is Jazz in 1947 | |||
Bessie Smith w/ James P. Johnson | Back Water Blues | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1927 Smith called Johnson her favorite accompanist | |||
Jimmy Johnson | Snowy Morning Blues | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1927 one of Johnson's greatest recordings of this era | |||
Louisiana Sugar Babes | Willow Tree | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1928 for the show Keep Shuffling. Note the interplay between Johnson on piano and his friend & protege Fats Waller on organ. Waller first learned to play the organ, to play for his father's preaching. Johnson taught him to play piano. I read that for these recordings, Waller's pip organ was in *another room* and he still somehow managed to play along with the rest of the group | |||
Ethel Waters w/ James P. Johnson | Guess Who's In Town | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1928 this song was written by Johnson, like most of the songs in this show | |||
Jimmy Johnson | Riffs | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1929 fun composition by Johnson that shows off his talent at stride piano | |||
Jimmy Johnson & His Orchestra | You've Got To Be Modernistic | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1929 | |||
James P. Johnson | Jingles | The James P. Johnson Collection 1921-49 | Acrobat | rec 1930 | |||
James P. Johnson | What Is This Thing Called Love? | Snowy Morning Blues | Smithsonian | rec 1930 this and Jingles were recorded at the same session. | |||
Lonnie Johnson and Clarence Williams w/ James P. Johnson | The Dirty Dozen | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1930 Johnson and Clarence Williams worked together many times in the 1920s and 30s | |||
Jimmy Johnson & His Orchestra | A Porter's Love Song To a Chambermaid | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1931 written for the show Kitchen Mechanic's Revue | |||
James P. Johnson | Liza | Jazz & Blues Piano (1934-1947) | Document | rec 1937 at a private party in the home of Fats Waller | |||
Pee Wee, Zutty and James P. Trio | Everybody Loves My Baby | James P. Johnson 1938-1942 | rec 1939. Johnson stopped recording almost entirely between 1931-1937 to focus on writing classic music. After he returned to performing and recording he began collaborating with his friends, performing in their bands and having them in his orchestra | ||||
Frankie Newton And His Orchestra | Who? | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1939 | |||
Jimmy Johnson & His Orchestra | Hungry Blues | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1939 this was written for De Organizer, the blues opera Johnson cowrote with Langston Hughes. Aside from this song the work was considered lost for many decades, but has since been rediscovered in (I think) the 1990s and performed several times since then | |||
James P. Johnson | If Dreams Come True | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1939 | |||
James P. Johnson | The Mule Walk | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1939 this was one of his first compositions, written sometime in 1914-1916 (exact date not known) | |||
Jimmy Johnson & His Orchestra | Old Fashioned Love | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1939 | |||
Rosetta Crawford with James P. Johnson's Hep Cats | Stop It Joe | the Mezz Mezzrow Collection 1928-1955 | Acrobat | rec 1939 feat. Mezz Mezzrow, they were friends and performed in each other's bands | |||
James P. Johnson | Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody | The James P Johnson Collection 1921-49 | Acrobat | rec 1944 this was written in 1927 as a response to George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," it was inspired by/dedicated to Yamekraw, a Black neighborhood in Savannah GA. It was written as an orchestral piece and performed in 1927 at Carnegie Hall with Fats Waller on piano. Johnson later arranged it for solo piano which is what we're hearing here. | |||
James P. Johnson's Blue Note Jazzmen | Victory Strides | Big Ben | Proper UK | rec 1944 the Blue Note Jazzmen were a group of Blue Note performers often led by Johnson. He also appeared in the band when it was led by Sidney de Paris | |||
James P. Johnson | If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight | The James P. Johnson Collection 1921-49 | Acrobat | rec 1944 next to "The Charleston" this was probably Johnson's most successful composition | |||
James P. Johnson | Blues for Fats | Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) | Mosaic | rec 1943 this was written in response to the death of his close friend Fats Waller | |||
Rod Cless Quartet | I Know That You Know | Classic Black and White Sessions | Mosaic | rec 1944 | |||
The Carnival Three feat. James P. Johnson | Harlem Hotcha | Jazz Chronicle: James P. Johnson Vol. 3 | rec 1945 Harlem Hotcha was a revue Johnson wrote in 1932 | ||||
Eddie Condon and His Orchestra | Just You, Just Me | Eddie Condon: The Classic Sessions 1927-1949 | rec 1946 | ||||
James P. Johnson | Ain't Cha Got Music | This Is Jazz 21 June 1947 | otr-cat.com | rec 1947 radio transcription. This Is Jazz was an improv jazz program hosted by jazz critic Rudi Blesh featuring a band called 'The All Star Stompers.' Baby Dodds was a regular on the show and Johnson was a frequent gues | |||
James P. Johnson | Jungle Drums | The Original James P. Johnson | rec 1945 this was a reworking/arrangement for solo piano of "Drums: A Symphonic Poem," an orchestral piece he wrote in 1942 | ||||
Concordia Orchestra & Marin Alsop | Drums: A Symphonic Poem | Victory Strides: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson | rec 1994 this work was not performed during Johnson's life |