One of the top tuba soloists since the early 60s, Howard Johnson is a very versatile player who not only plays tuba and baritone but other reeds and cornet. He moved to New York in 1963, where he worked with Charles Mingus (1964-1966), Hank Crawford, and Archie Shepp.
In 1966 he started a 22 year association with Gil Evans. Johnson and 3 other tuba players perfomed with Taj Mahal in 1971.In 1968 Johnson formed Substructure with 5 tubas and jazz rhythm section, which became Gravity in 1970 with 6 tubas. In 1995 Gravity finally recorded and in 1996 played at the Montery Jazz Festival and at Die Berliner Jazz Tage.
Howard Johnson has recorded with Crawford, Jack DeJohnette‘s Special Edition, Jimmy Heath, Bob Moses, George Gruntz‘s Concert Jazz Band, and frequently with Evans‘ orchestra, among others. HO
WAR
D JO
HNSO
N( in the original version) top action piston model with the relatively small bore of .669 to have the true turbo effect. This instrument is ideal for playing Jazz and as a doubling instrument for bass trombone players.
front action piston model with a .669 bore that is aimed at „New Horizon“ players and smaller gigs - easy to play.
Char
les
Min
gus
1964
-66
and
1972
-74
(tuba
) | H
ank
Craw
ford
196
5-67
(bar
itone
sax
) | G
il Ev
ans
1966
-198
8 (tu
ba, b
ari-s
ax, b
ass
sax,
bas
s cl
arin
et) |
Arc
hie
Shep
p 19
66-6
8 (tu
ba) |
Bud
dy R
ich
1966
(bar
i-sax
and
bas
s cl
arin
et) |
Ger
ald
Wils
on 1
967
and
1972
(bar
i-sax
) | O
liver
Nel
son
1967
and
197
2 (tu
ba)
Quin
cy J
ones
197
2 (tu
ba s
tudi
o) |
B. B
. Kin
g 19
73 (b
ari-s
ax, a
rran
ger)
|Pa
ul B
utte
rfiel
d‘s
Bette
r Day
s 19
73-7
4 (b
ari-s
ax, a
rran
ger)
| J
azz C
ompo
ser‘s
Orc
hest
ra 1
968-
70 (C
arla
Ble
y, M
ike
Man
tler,
Ceci
l Tay
lor,
Phar
oah
Sand
ers)
| C
harli
e Ha
yden
‘s L
iber
atio
n M
usic
Orc
hest
ra -
1968
tub
a (s
tudi
o)
SUBS
TRUC
TURE
/GRA
VITY
196
8 - p
rese
nt |
Taj
Mah
al 1
971
tuba
, bar
i-sax
, flu
gelh
orn
(„Th
e Re
al T
hing
“ liv
e at
Fill
mor
e Ea
st/S
ony-
Lega
cy) |
Gat
o Ba
rbie
ri 19
74-7
5 (e
lect
ric b
ass)
| J
ohn
Lenn
on 1
974,
197
5-19
80 (b
ari-s
ax, a
rran
ger)
| S
atur
day
Nigh
t Liv
e 19
75-1
980
bari-
sax,
tuba
, arr
ange
r (ba
ndle
ader
in 1
979-
80 s
easo
n)
The
Band
197
1, 1
976
(„Ro
ck o
f Age
s“),
(„Th
e La
st W
altz
“) |
Oak
land
Sym
phon
y 19
77 (a
rran
ger f
or T
aj M
ahal
) | G
eorg
e Gr
untz
197
0 - p
rese
nt (t
uba,
bar
i-sax
, bas
s cl
arin
et) |
Abd
ulla
h Ib
rahi
m 1
987-
90 (b
ari-s
ax) |
Jac
k De
John
ette
‘s S
peci
al E
ditio
n 19
84-8
7 |
Dizz
y Gille
spie
Big B
and 1
987
70th
Birt
hday
Eur
opea
n and
Japa
n Tou
rs
Geor
ge G
runt
z‘s
jazz
ope
ras
„The
Hol
y Gr
ail o
f Jaz
z and
Joy
“ 19
87 „
Cosm
opol
itan
Gree
tings
“ 19
88 (P
rinci
pal r
oles
) | S
pike
Lee
‘s fi
lm s
ound
track
s 19
90o‘
s „S
choo
l Daz
e“, „
Mo‘
Bet
ter B
lues
“, „
Mal
colm
X“,
„Cl
ocke
rs“
| No
rth
Germ
an S
tate
Rad
io (N
DR) B
ig B
and
1991
-95
| G
eorg
e Gr
untz
Con
cert
Jaz
z Ban
d (G
GCJB
) J.
J. J
ohns
on C
D „T
he B
rass
Orc
hest
ra“
1996
| J
ohn
Scof
ield
CD‘
s „G
roov
e El
atio
n“19
95 „
Quie
t“ 1
996
| GR
AVIT
Y - M
onte
rey,
Pla
yboy
, Ber
lin, L
ever
kuse
n an
d M
ontre
al J
azz F
estiv
als
1996
-200
0
2011TA 2011FATHE HOWARD JOHNSON GRAVITY BBb-Tuba: 4/4size | 4 valves | bell diameter 17.32 | height 35.8
6seiterneu.indd 1 11.06.2008 13:36:19 Uhr
HOWARD JOHNSON GRAVITY
These days, many Tuba players are expanding into Jazz and they deserve an affordable instrument just for Jazz playing that does not limit their abilities. With the help of Howard Johnson Meinl-Weston started an ambitious project to develop a new BBb-Tuba ideally suited for Jazz playing.
The result is the new Meinl-Weston Tuba model BBb-Tuba 2011TA „Heritage Howard Johnson Gravity“. It is a rebirth of Howard Johnson‘s vintage Belgian Mahillon Tuba of the 1960‘s when the Wenzel Meinl company also supplied the (now defunct) Mahillon factory with Tuba body parts.
While developing the new instrument, many players already expressed interest in versions with front action piston valves and also in a rotary valve version which lead to the development of a whole new series of „Heritage Howard Johnson Gravity“ models to set new standards on the field of compact BBb-Tubas.
Meinl-Weston / Melton tuba manufacturing:Wenzel Meinl GmbH • Seniweg 4 • D-82538 Geretsried • Germany • Tel.: +49 8171 92187-0 • Fax: +49 8171 92187-19 • www.meinl-weston.com • www.melton.de
Foto
s: S
siru
s W
. Pak
zad
| L
ayou
t: w
ww
.sitt
igde
sign
.de
ONE
OF TH
E TO
P TU
BA S
OLOI
STS
SINC
E TH
E EA
RLY
60s
MEINL-WESTON/MELTON UNVEILS NEW 4/4 BBb-TUBA SERIES 2011
For press kits, booking information, and all other inquiries, please contact Howard at: [email protected]
Howard can also be found on the web at:www.hojozone.com and www.myspace.com/hojozone
D I S C O G R A P H Y „Arrival“
(tribute to Pharoah Sanders) 1994 with NUBIA (Johnson‘s Hamburg - based band)
„GRAVITY!!!“ 1995 with GRAVITY „Right Now!“ - 1998 with GRAVITY and Taj Mahal
6seiterneu.indd 2 11.06.2008 13:36:47 Uhr