2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Former D.C. bus driver sings jazz, vocalese
Johnson worked his way up with song, now assists AU vocalists
By Ben Lozovsky on 2/2/06
After three years of patiently watching Jefferson perform, Johnson finally received a call from up to the stage to perform with him at a club in Philadelphia. Johnson still remembers the exact words uttered by Jefferson that night: "This is one of my students, George V Johnson ... he's next in line," Johnson said.
Years later, after Jefferson was murdered in Detroit, Johnson made the essential exodus for any jazz musician: A trip to New York City. Within a year of moving there he was already busting his chops with some serious jazz heavyweights, singing with the likes of James Moody and Pharoah Sanders, and even writing lyrics and performing for Sanders on his classic 1981 record "Release."
After singing for 10 years with Moody in New York, Johnson was forced to get a day job to help support his growing family. He never forgot his main love though, and would travel sporadically down to D.C. with Moody and his band. It was during those many trips that he first performed at the Twins Lounge in Northwest D.C. After moving back to Washington in the summer of 2005, Johnson resumed his relationship with the Twins establishments, organizing and hosting a 12-hour music marathon with 100 local musicians as a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina Victims.
Since then, he has performed and taught a weekly vocalese workshop every Wednesday at Twins Lounge, where on many nights you can stop by and hear him lending his rich, throaty yet smooth vocals to revered jazz standards as well as wide range of original pieces. His voice is distinctive yet amazingly approachable, but when he attacks a solo, he often transforms into a churning chromatic trumpet, blazing away at a rate at which any instrumentalist would be jealous.
One instrumentalist who couldn't help but take notice was AU music professor Dr. Will Smith. After playing together at the former BET jazz club, Smith immediately felt a connection with Johnson's unmistakable voice. It became clear that Smith knew his collaborator formally as Mr. Johnson, [the voice of the train Smith would take every day from New Jersey to high school in Manhattan.]
Currently, Johnson is dedicated to putting lyrics to the songs of Hank Mobley, and is also striving to lead the world's first vocalese choir.
Years later, after Jefferson was murdered in Detroit, Johnson made the essential exodus for any jazz musician: A trip to New York City. Within a year of moving there he was already busting his chops with some serious jazz heavyweights, singing with the likes of James Moody and Pharoah Sanders, and even writing lyrics and performing for Sanders on his classic 1981 record "Release."
After singing for 10 years with Moody in New York, Johnson was forced to get a day job to help support his growing family. He never forgot his main love though, and would travel sporadically down to D.C. with Moody and his band. It was during those many trips that he first performed at the Twins Lounge in Northwest D.C. After moving back to Washington in the summer of 2005, Johnson resumed his relationship with the Twins establishments, organizing and hosting a 12-hour music marathon with 100 local musicians as a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina Victims.
Since then, he has performed and taught a weekly vocalese workshop every Wednesday at Twins Lounge, where on many nights you can stop by and hear him lending his rich, throaty yet smooth vocals to revered jazz standards as well as wide range of original pieces. His voice is distinctive yet amazingly approachable, but when he attacks a solo, he often transforms into a churning chromatic trumpet, blazing away at a rate at which any instrumentalist would be jealous.
One instrumentalist who couldn't help but take notice was AU music professor Dr. Will Smith. After playing together at the former BET jazz club, Smith immediately felt a connection with Johnson's unmistakable voice. It became clear that Smith knew his collaborator formally as Mr. Johnson, [the voice of the train Smith would take every day from New Jersey to high school in Manhattan.]
Currently, Johnson is dedicated to putting lyrics to the songs of Hank Mobley, and is also striving to lead the world's first vocalese choir.