EPISODE · Sep 7, 2025 · 59 MIN
2025.08.18 Bob Dee on Jef Lee Johnson - 1 of 3
from Deep Focus · host Small Media Large
How is it possible that you have never heard guitarist Jef Lee Johnson? He was as incendiary and as nakedly original as any soloist you have ever heard (absolutely any!). But his greater distinction might have been his songwriting. You don’t learn to write songs that are that revealing, that insightful, that cleverly put-together, and that hilariously funny, just by working at it. First, you have to have the wisdom, and Jef had it pouring out of him. It seemed as if he couldn’t make it stop if he wanted to. Jef toured and recorded for decades, but, for whatever reason, he never broke through the way many of us thought he should have. One person who got to witness the artistry up close was fellow guitarist Bob Dee. The two shared the front line in Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, and Bob has never forgotten a moment of what he saw and heard. Bob joins host Mitch Goldman for a Deep Focus that continues the WKCR Lost Masters tradition. Join us Monday (8/18) when Mitch Goldman and Bob Dee unearth live, unreleased recordings. Deep Focus airs Mondays from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org. Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/. Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted. It's ad-free, all free, totally non-commercial. We won't even ask for your contact info. Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on Instagram @deep_focus_podcast. Photo credit: no publishing information available. #WKCR #DeepFocus #JefLeeJohnson #/BobDee #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
What this episode covers
How is it possible that you have never heard guitarist Jef Lee Johnson? He was as incendiary and as nakedly original as any soloist you have ever heard (absolutely any!). But his greater distinction might have been his songwriting. You don’t learn to write songs that are that revealing, that insightful, that cleverly put-together, and that hilariously funny, just by working at it. First, you have to have the wisdom, and Jef had it pouring out of him. It seemed as if he couldn’t make it stop if he wanted to. Jef toured and recorded for decades, but, for whatever reason, he never broke through the way many of us thought he should have. One person who got to witness the artistry up close was fellow guitarist Bob Dee. The two shared the front line in Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society, and Bob has never forgotten a moment of what he saw and heard. Bob joins host Mitch Goldman for a Deep Focus that continues the WKCR Lost Masters tradition.Join us Monday (8/18) when Mitch Goldman and Bob Dee unearth live, unreleased recordings. Deep Focus airs Mondays from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org. Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/. Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted. It's ad-free, all free, totally non-commercial. We won't even ask for your contact info. Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us onInstagram @deep_focus_podcast. Photo credit: no publishing information available.#WKCR #DeepFocus #JefLeeJohnson #/BobDee #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
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2025.08.18 Bob Dee on Jef Lee Johnson - 1 of 3
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