J. J. Johnson Album Covers

If you find that you can't wait, try the Album Cover Index, which is very quick-loading.

Jazz at the Philharmonic- the First Concert
J. J. sounds very different on this live 1944 recording.

Here's a portion of the back cover of a 78 r.p.m. issue
of the above, with J. J. visible.

Okay, what does this cover with a floozie posing with a
left-handed trombone have to do with J. J.? Beats me.......

Here's a reissue with some of the stuff from the Charlie Parker sessions
in which J. J. participated in December, 1947.
I wrote an article on that busy month early in J. J.'s career. Click here to read it.

The first Jay and Kai sessions, on Savoy. Again, the left-handed trombones.
This was the first recording of J. J.'s classic tune, Lament

I won't comment on the artwork director's originality.

The "J & K sound" was really getting polished by the time of this album.

Here's another cover with which the Prestige sessions were issued, on a 10" LP record.

Trombone By Three
This cover is such a nightmare, it's amazing that it was ever
issued, much less reissued, as it has been a few times.

This is interesting.....a very rare 16 r.p.m. pressing of
the Prestige sessions with artwork by........Andy Warhol?!?

This album was the recorded result of a Korean War tour
which didn't go so well for the band. Sometime soon I'll post a
funny picture of the guys posing in fatigues with guns and grenades.....

Miles Davis, Blue Note, Volume 1

Miles Davis, Blue Note, Volume 2
J. J. is visible on the above two Miles covers.

The more common cover art for the Blue Note albums.
J. J. is visible here behind Miles' cigarette smoke.

The Eminent J. J. Johnson, Vols. 1 and 2
His Eminence has a Conn trombone casting a shadow on his forehead.

Here's what the 10"LP covers of the Blue Note sessions looked like. This is a Japanese reissue.

The Birdlanders
This was one of his first albums featuring really extended solos.

An Afternoon at Birdland
The original cover is at left, the more common one at right.
Jay and Kai were at their loosest on this live recording.

'Nuf Said, front and back covers.
"Big tones from the great trombones"

Jay and Kai made a few guest appearances. This one was with vocalist Connor.

Here's another J & K guest appearance. If you ever find this one,
be warned- Frankie Laine is only for the brave.

You think it helps Buck play better when Frankie's in his ear like this?

Trombone for Two

This is kind of a cute cover. Notice, though, how these are all white guys,
while most of the musicians on the album are actually African-American?

An excellent live recording (actually only half an album).
I like the berets and complementary jackets.

Here's a Columbia issue of some J & K material with a different cover-
I'm not sure if this is the same album as another, or a compilation, or what.....

The last Jay and Kai album on Columbia.

This was a Third Stream project which featured his Poem For Brass,
in addition to works by the others listed.

J is for Jazz
His first long-playing solo album, on Columbia no less.

Live at Cafe Bohemia, 1957

First Place
Though it's difficult to make out from this scan, assembled on the table
in front of J. J. are all the essentials for a jazz trombonist:
trombone, extra mouthpiece, felt beret, ashtray,
and a glass of what looks to be an alcoholic beverage, possibly Scotch.

Blue Trombone
Maybe it should be "Backwards Trombone", 'cause here's another one...

Dial J. J. 5
(I've tried it, and no, this is NOT his real phone number.)

Stan Getz and J. J. Johnson- At The Opera House
This was the second version of cover art used for this album.
The first was a harsh yellow and black, but with better photos which weren't touched up like these.

Here's that first cover. Studying this picture when I found this album helped me
to unlock the mystery of J. J.'s finesse-based technique.
No kidding........

The Trombones, Inc.
Notice how often trombonists are made to be buffoons in artwork?
J. J. did not play on this album (because of his Columbia contract), but he wrote a couple tunes and did some arrangements for this project which followed the success of Jay and Kai + 6.

J. J. In Person!
One of his greatest recordings, though it wasn't really recorded live "in concert".

This is a Columbia compilation which had one track of J. J.,
playing Bag's Groove with the Quintet featuring Nat Adderly.

The great sextet of 1960.

The Great Kai and J. J.
I like this cover. Simple and effective- and you can tell these guys mean business.

Here's a reissue of the above, with some tunes from the Nuf Said sessions as well.

Dizzy Gillespie- Perceptions.
J. J. composed and arranged the music for this album to showcase Diz's trumpet.

Andre Previn and J. J. Johnson Play the Music of Kurt Weill
A very deep, very interesting record. On left above is the original, at right the reissue.

J. J.'s Broadway
If you don't have this album, look for it at the used
record stores- it's one of the greatest jazz trombone albums of the century.

Proof Positive (1964- the last album featuring a working group of his for over twenty years)

Tribute To Charlie Parker
J. J. appears to have a large welt on his temple
in the cover photo, from the Newport Jazz Festival, 1964.

This European releases features the three American jazzmen
as soloists in a Third Stream setting.

A sideman date with Stanley Turrentine.

J. J. plays on three of this album's six tunes.
Classic stuff, and his only recording with trumpet great Woody Shaw.

J. J.!
J. J. posing with his legendary Black Bone. He really didn't play it much, though!

Goodies
This was one of J. J.'s "pop-oriented" albums of the late '60s.

The Total J. J. Johnson
This cover has a close-up of him playing the Black Bone.

Say When
This CD release is a compilation of the above two albums, minus a few tunes.

This is a Lalo Schifrin album which J. J. plays on,
but the cover is so bizarre that I've included it here.
The title of the album, if you're interested, is
The Dissection And Reconstruction Of Music From The Past
As Performed By The Inmates Of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble
As A Tribute To The Memory Of The Marquis de Sade.

Another Lalo Schifrin appearance.

Across 110th Street (a motion picture J. J. scored)

Here's another film he provided music for.

The Yokohama Concert, a reunion with cornetist Nat Adderly in Japan.
This CD cover is a dressed-up version of the original, more plain Pablo LP art.

Pinnacles
Such bad luck- another backwards picture. You know,
it's rare to see a saxophonist's picture flipped around like this.....

Concepts In Blue

Jackson, Johnson, Brown and Co.
Another updated cover from the Pablo label.
Norman Granz used this photo of J. J. on at least 3 different covers.

The duet album with guitarist Joe Pass. They blew up the pictures for the CD cover and
turned Joe Pass' picture around (they had him playing left-handed on the LP),
but didn't seem to notice that J. J.'s picture is STILL backwards!
You know, I'm getting pretty tired of looking at this thing this way.........

Ahhhhh........ That's MUCH better!

Things Are Getting Better All The Time with Cheshire Cat Al Grey.
If you have the original LP, you can see that J. J. wrote FRAGILE in big letters all over
his trombone case to try to stave off the Airline Baggage Handler Horn Mangling phenomenon.

The Trombone Master
A compilation/reissue album, but I've included it
because of the cool photo of J. J. (enjoying his ciggy).
A "through-CD case" scan.

The first of two albums produced from recordings of J. J.'s now-legendary
"Comeback" engagement at the Village Vanguard, 10/88.

The second album from above.

Dedicated to the memory of J. J.'s first wife.

Let's Hang Out

J. J.'s long-dreamed-of collaboration
with orchestrator Robert Farnon.

The Mosaic set, The Complete Columbia J. J. Johnson Small Group Sessions
I believe this picture was taken prior to the Columbia years, though, during the Eminent J. J. Johnson session with John Lewis. (I have another picture with J. J. and Lewis, and J. J. looks the same, wearing the same outfit as he is here.)

The Brass Orchestra
The Grammy-nominated album showcasing the sound of jazz brass.

Heroes
Recorded in late '96, released in early '99. Great stuff.

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