DATE AND TIME
Sun, January 29, 2017
2:30 PM – 5:00 PM EST
LOCATION
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem
58 West 129th Street
New York, NY 10027
Featuring
Howard Johnson – baritone sax, tuba, penny whistle
Yayoi Ikawa – piano
Melissa Slocum – bass
Newman Taylor Baker – drums
Testimony includes eight tunes ranging from soulful to funky to bluesy to cookers. Gravity’s take on Johnson’s originals as well as compositions by McCoy Tyner, Carol King, and others, testifies to the range and versatility of the tuba.
Over the past half century, Howard Johnson, the eminence grise of low brass, has appeared on hundreds of albums playing tuba, baritone sax, bass clarinet, electric bass and other instruments with the giants of many genres. The New York Times’ critic Nate Chinen credits Johnson as “the figure most responsible for the tuba’s current status as a full-fledged jazz voice.” With Testimony, his third recording with Gravity (and his fourth as a leader) Johnson takes a giant step forward in making the music world safe for tubas and low brass, delighting—and enlightening—listeners in the process.
After arriving in New York in the early ’60s, Johnson appeared with Jack DeJohnette, Abdullah Ibrahim, Lou Rawls, Lee Morgan, Chick Corea, John Lennon, The Band, Paul Simon, Tony Williams, Pharoah Sanders, Hank Mobley, The Saturday Night Live Band, Gato Barbieri, Levon Helm, and literally hundreds of others.
Johnson was also a long-time muse to innovators such as Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Carla Bley, and George Gruntz, who created music to showcase the multi-instrumentalist’s abilities, and inspired him on his life-long quest to expand the range and repertoire for some of the less familiar instruments in jazz and popular music. Bluesman Taj Mahal helped to spread the word when he invited Johnson and his tuba cohorts to tour and to record with him in 1971. The resulting album, The Real Thing, features Johnson’s brass arrangements and Gravity stalwarts Joseph Daley, Earl McIntyre and Bob Stewart, who also appear on Testimony.
Dave Bargeron (tuba), a self-described “proud charter member of Gravity since 1968.” He has played with Blood, Sweat and Tears, big bands led by Clark Terry, Gil Evans, George Russell, George Gruntz, and Jaco Pastorius, and countless smaller ensembles.
Velvet Brown (tuba), the Penn State professor of tuba and euphonium, is equally at home with the St. Louis Symphony, the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, or the San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic Orchestra.
Joseph Daley (tuba) is the producer of Testimony and a mainstay of New York’s adventurous music scene, having played with the likes of Sam Rivers, Carla Bley, Gil Evans, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, and Hazmat Modine.
Carlton Holmes (keyboards) is a top pick of icons like Charli Persip, Cindy Blackman-Santana, Michael Carvin, Freddie Hubbard, Stevie Wonder, and many others.
Nedra Johnson (tuba, vocal) has one of the most powerful and compelling voices you’re likely to hear. Whether playing jazz, womyn’s music, funk, or R&B, she’s known for bringing festival crowds to their feet.
Earl McIntyre (tuba) is a renowned educator, Brooklyn Philharmonic guest conductor. An in-demand bass trombonist as well, he is an alumnus of bands fronted by Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor, Lester Bowie, McCoy Tyner, and others.
Melissa Slocum (bass) is an in-demand veteran of stints with Art Blakey, Leon Thomas, Hank Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Melba Liston. She also shines in settings from symphony to Broadway to baroque.
Bob Stewart (tuba) has worked with the mainstream (Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis), the avant-garde (Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Arthur Blythe), and the hit makers (Chaka Khan, Dap Kings, Aretha Franklin).
Album highlights include:
“Testimony”: This 1990 Howard Johnson original is a cooker that testifies to the power and versatility of the tuba, and puts the listener on notice as to what’s to come.
“Workin’ Hard for the Joneses”: Forget keepin’ up with the Joneses! Nedra Johnson’s original is a reminder that addictions, including love, can come at a hefty cost.
“Fly With the Wind”: This Howard Johnson arrangement of a too-rarely heard McCoy Tyner composition proves how nimble and versatile a tuba choir can be: Tubas can indeed fly with the wind!
“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”: A 1968 Howard Johnson arrangement of the Carol King classic, inspired by Aretha Franklin’s hit version. Besides her brilliant lead work throughout the CD, Velvet Brown’s solo here shows truly authentic command and grace.
“High Priest”: McCoy Tyner’s tribute to Thelonious Monk, the high priest of jazz. From the jaggedness of the melody to the signature lope in the rhythm, Gravity captures what’s best about both McCoy and Monk. Listen up for a brilliant solo from bassist Melissa Slocum.
“Little Black Lucille”: Johnson brings the pennywhistle to the fore with his lilting original folk tune. It’s a tender tribute to his Aunt Lucille, who overcame the privation of her early years to build a loving family.
“Evolution”: A Bob Neloms composition Johnson learned at 18—Neloms was two years younger. “I really liked the rhythm and the hipness of the blues. I’m the only person who plays it, and Bob doesn’t remember writing it,” Howard recalls, laughing.
“Way Back Home”: Penned by saxophonist/bassist/Jazz Crusader Wilton Felder, Johnson wrote an arrangement of this soulful crowd-pleaser for The Saturday Night Live Band, as well as this one for Gravity. “We recently lost Wilton, and we will not forget him,” Howard declares. Full of mellow, rich harmonies, its subtlety challenges preconceptions about the role of low brass in jazz.
Howard Johnson has made it his life’s work to “reveal the range and versatility of the tuba in all its splendor” to a larger audience. With its vibrant spirit and swing, Testimony makes a strong case for repeated listening.
Howard Johnson And Gravity Testimony
(Tuscarora Records Item number 17-001 )
Street Date: March 3, 2017
Howard Johnson Media Contact
