JEF LEE JOHNSON
Genres: RnB, Jazz Related Rock, Eclectic Fusion • United States

Jef Lee Johnson was one of those unrecognized genius guitarists who haunt the history of the instrument. His is not exactly a local hero story: where a brilliant guitarist labors in the neighborhood clubs, unknown to anyone outside his town. Johnson was respected widely enough to have worked with: George Duke, Al Jarreau, Patti Labelle, James Carter, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Mariah Carey, Stanley Clarke, Aretha Franklin, Ronald Shannon Jackson, McCoy Tyner, Esperanza Spalding, Chaka Khan, David Sanborn, and a host of others. It is more a tale of a talent who never broke out as a solo artist, failing to find the wider recognition brought about by your name on the marquee. Born in Philadelphia on June 26, 1958, Johnson grew up the youngest of five children in a musical family. He was influenced by the music of Herb Alpert, Eric Dolphy, Motown, Sergio Mendes, Leonard Bernstein, and the Vanilla Fudge. “I read more...