Dewey Bernard Johnson (November 6, 1939 – June 26, 2018) was an American free jazz trumpeter best known for his appearance on John Coltrane's historic recording Ascension.^[1]

Early life

Johnson was born in Philadelphia, where he took lessons at the Granoff School of Music.^[2] In the early 1960s, he spent time in California, where he met and played with Byron Allen, Noah Howard, Sonny Simmons, and other musicians interested in free improvisation.^[2][3]

New York

In 1963, Johnson moved to New York, where he played with Sun Ra^[4] and started a band with saxophonist Giuseppi Logan, bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Rashied Ali.^[1] In 1964, Johnson participated in the historic "October Revolution in Jazz", a four-day music festival organized by trumpeter Bill Dixon,^[5] and also joined pianist Paul Bley's group. The following year, he appeared on Bley's album Barrage.^[2] Johnson also played with saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Marion Brown^[6] and repeatedly sat in with John Coltrane's band.^[1] Eventually Coltrane invited him to participate in the recording of Ascension, on which he takes the second solo, following Coltrane and preceding Sanders.^[1][7]

In the spring of 1967, Johnson played in the Rashied Ali Quintet, recordings of which were released more than fifty years later.^[8] Following Coltrane's death in July of that year, Johnson suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized.^[1] After dropping out of the music scene for a few years and living as a homeless person, Johnson joined a collective improvisation group known as The Music Ensemble, which also featured drummer Roger Baird, violinist Billy Bang, trumpeter Malik Baraka, saxophonist Daniel Carter, and bassists Earl Freeman and William Parker,^[9] and began to support himself with various odd jobs.^[7][1]

Later life

In the early 1980s, while working at Ali's Alley, a club run by Rashied Ali, Johnson met and formed a trio with drummer Paul Murphy and pianist Mary Anne Driscoll. The group frequently performed in lofts and, supplemented by saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and bassoonist Karen Borca, recorded two albums.^[1] In 1984, Johnson again fell on hard times and became homeless. He later lived at the Coler Specialty Hospital on Roosevelt Island in New York City. He died in 2018.^[1]

Family

Johnson's brother Lionel "Sonny" Johnson was a bass player. He replaced Jimmy Garrison upon the latter's departure from John Coltrane's group in 1966,^[10] and played with Coltrane throughout the second half of that year.^[11] He can be heard on the album Offering: Live at Temple University, recorded in November, 1966.

Discography

With John Coltrane

• Ascension (Impulse!, recorded 1965, released 1966)
• The Best of John Coltrane: His Greatest Years, Vol. 2 (Impulse!, 1972 re-release of Ascension)
• The Major Works of John Coltrane (GRP Records, 1992 re-release of Ascension)
• The Impulse! Albums, Vol. 3 (Impulse!, 2009 re-release of Ascension)

With Paul Bley

• Barrage (ESP-Disk, recorded 1964, released 1965)

With Paul Murphy

• Red Snapper: Paul Murphy at CBS (CIMP, recorded 1982, released 2003)
• Cloudburst: Paul Murphy at RCA (Murphy Records, recorded and released 1983)

With Rashied Ali

• First Time Out: Live at Slugs 1967 (Survival Records, recorded 1967, released 2020)

Compilations

• Fire Music, Vol. 1: A High Energy Avant Garde Jazz Compilation (ESP-Disk, 2012 re-release of a track from Paul Bley's album Barrage)

References