Friday, January 8, 2016

BoiseStatePublicRadio.org: James P. Johnson: The Father Of Stride [1894-1955, Profiled at AfriClassical.com]

James P. Johnson (front) in the mid- to late 1940s.
William Gottlieb / Library of Congress

The African American composer and pianist James Price Johnson, profiled at AfriClassical.com, was born on Feb. 1, 1894 in New Brunswick, New Jersey.


Many decades after James P. Johnson's death, his influence remains embedded in the playing of most jazz pianists. The early-20th-century musician's seminal work represents the cornerstone of jazz piano conception.

Here, Jazz Night In America visits Jazz at Lincoln Center to hear pianists like Aaron Diehl, Ethan Iverson, Marc Cary and ELEW pay tribute to one of the founding fathers of the art, and then digs into the James P. Johnson collection at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University.

Copyright 2016 WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center. To see more, visit WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center.

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