George “Happy” Johnson

That which was George “Happy” Johnson thus happy about? Maybe it was having the ability to play both tenor saxophone and trombone, an instrumental dual that few instrumentalists can state to have perfected. The usual consequence of attempting such a mixture on the musician’s chops could be in comparison to a marathon extend of gnawing barbecued goat, although with regards to actual taste the mix of reed and brass slobber will be considered an insufficient rival. Johnson’s picture was mainly Chicago throughout a period when rock and roll & roll had been created out of a combined mix of jazz and blues. Organizations such as for example that of Duke Henderson’s, with whom the horn guy was pleased to perform and record with in the ’40s, had been called jump rings, the leader’s design of singing referred to as blues shouting. Shouting, jumping — everything added up to wall of sound for any horn section to pierce through. Johnson frequently documented in close quarters or makeshift circumstances, all area of the developing Windy City saving industry where several independent brands managed quite nicely by keeping close track of what was taking place musically when costs had been cut towards the bone tissue. Johnson recorded using the great vocalist Linda Hopkins for the Savoy label, for instance, but unfortunately, a number of the initiatives created by adaptable sidemen like this multi-instrumentalist went uncredited on primary releases.