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: hojotuba@aol.com

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