Trombonist/composer J.J. Johnson: "J.J. Inc."

This is the last installment of our May Jazz features that spotlight short-lived bands. We'll do this again later this year. The band in question tonight was led by one of the pioneers of Modern Jazz, trombone master J.J.Johnson. This band came from J.J.'s desire to put together a group of young up and coming players. He accomplished this by hiring a young Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone, Cedar Walton on piano, Arthur Harper on bass and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. In the case of Hubbard, Jordan, Walton and Heath, they became some of the most influential Jazz artists of the 60s and well beyond. They played several concerts and club gigs and fortunately made this, their only recording for Columbia Records. J.J. called the band "J.J. Inc.". The band recorded these brand new tunes written and arranged by Mr. Johnson in August of 1960. Soon after the recording J.J. regrettably disbanded as he was weary of dealing with clubs and booking agents but more importantly needed time to fulfill a lot of writing commissions that were coming his way including composing for TV and movies too. So this is what we have, this fine album by J.J. Inc. to remember this band by. Tune in and check out this amazing group, your ears will love you for it!