RUSS JOHNSON
Genres: 21st Century Modern, Avant-Garde Jazz, Post Bop • United States

The jazz world is filled with great musicians like trumpeter Russ Johnson—guys who play all of the time and appear on loads of records but have little name recognition outside of the cognoscenti. He's only made a handful of records under his own leadership, but he's turned up as a sideman on countless albums, including dates led by Jenny Scheinman, Michael Bates, Noah Preminger, Diedre Rodman, Lee Konitz, Jason Rigby, and Steve Swallow, among others. He should be better known, because the dude can play some serious trumpet. About a year and a half ago Johnson moved to Milwaukee from New York, where he'd been based since the 90s, although he continues to maintain a regular presence there even after relocating. The Racine native landed a gig as a jazz instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, in Kenosha, which has meant that he's started turning up for gigs here in Chicago. read more...