Gabriel Johnson
Gabriel Johnson (born 1980 in Santa Clara, California) is an American trumpeter whose music combines aspects of electronica and jazz. Biography. Johnson was born in Santa Clara, California, and grew up in Salinas, California. He decided to pursue a career in jazz music after seeing Dizzy Gillespie and Freddie Hubbard perform live in 1989. He attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston before returning to his native [California in 2004. He later became the musical director for Blood, Sweat & Tears when he was only 24 years old. Subsequently, he was chosen by Clint Eastwood to perform  for the soundtrack of his films "Changeling" and "Invictus". In 2010, he released his debut album, "Fra_ctured", on Electrofone Records. It was followed by "Introducing Gabriel Johnson", which he released on September 25, 2012, on his own Sunset Horn imprint. At the time, his manager was Miles Davis's son Erin Davis. Reception. Robert Christgau gave "Fra_ctured" an A− grade, writing that "[Johnson's] horn has crystallized more ace electronica experiments than any other traditional instrument," adding that "his sound and his backdrops are bigger and hotter than his predecessors". David Luhrssen of the "Shepherd Express" wrote that the album  conjures switched-on '70s progressive rock along with percolating electro-funk and copy-and-paste Pro Tools jazz, and wrote that Johnson was "obviously in the school" of Miles Davis. Andrew Frey in reviewing the album for "Maximum Ink" wrote of Johnson: "Born on the whims and whimsy of quirky electronica, this phenom trumpeter has found liberating fields of instrumental bliss through jubilant Pro Tools antics and his own 'fractured jazz' notions." Tom Hull of "The Village Voice" described the album as "Bold swathes of soundtrack electronica, burnished with bolts of trumpet."