Artist: Marc Johnson
Marc Alan Johnson is an American jazz bass player, composer and band leader. He is married to the Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias.
At the age of 19, Johnson was working professionally with the Fort Worth Symphony, and while at the University of North Texas, he played in the One O'Clock Lab Band and was also the principal bassist in the NTSU Symphony.
In 1978, Johnson joined pianist Bill Evans in what would be Evans's last trio. Johnson toured and recorded with Evans until the death of the pianist in 1980. In 2007 he released the tribute album S omething For You—a tribute to Evans—together with Eliane Elias.
His credits since then include albums with Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, Gary Burton, John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Eliane Elias, Enrico Pieranunzi, Joey Baron, Philly Joe Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Peter Erskine, Paul Motian, Steps Ahead and many others.
He has also appeared as a leader of his own bands, starting with Bass Desires, a quartet that featured Bill Frisell and John Scofield on electric guitar, with Peter Erskine on drums, which gained international recognition following two ECM recordings in the mid-1980s. He also recorded two albums of his group Right Brain Patrol for JMT Records, followed by his Sound of Summer Running release on Verve.
As a follow-up to Shades of Jade, in 2012, the ECM recording Swept Away was released. This album is a collaboration with pianist/composer Eliane Elias. It includes Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone and Joey Baron on drums. The music consists of all original compositions. As a producer, Johnson won two Grammy Awards for co-producing Eliane Elias' albums Made in Brazil (2016) and Dance of Time (2017) on Concord Records.
Further information about Marc Johnson is found at MarcJohnson.net.
This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Johnson_(musician), which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
Marc Johnson's Bass Desires - Jazz Festival Frankfurt 1986
Marc Johnson: Videos
WBGO/Yamaha Concert Series: Eliane Elias & Marc Johnson
Marc Johnson's Bass Desires - Wiesen, Austria, 1988-07-10