The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2 [Import, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

J. J. Johnson, Eric Johnson (Rock) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 26, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Japan
• ASIN: B00004WZP7
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,493,166 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Old Devil Moon

2. Jay

3. Time After Time

4. Too Marvelous for Words

5. It's You or No One

6. Coffee Pot

7. Pennies from Heaven [Alternate Take][*]

8. Viscosity

9. Viscosity [Alternate Take]

10. You're Mine, You

11. "Daylie" Double

12. Groovin'

13. Portrait of Jennie

14. "Daylie" Double [Alternate Take][*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Jazz Master, December 4, 2001

By 

David Lalljee (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eminent J.J. Johnson 2 (Audio CD)

One of the greatest and most influential figures in 20th century improvised music, JJ is on awesome form here. Some may find Sabu's playing a distraction, but JJ's majestic tone and awesome inventive power shine through all over the album. Back to back ballads (in the same key!) have Mingus and Co leaving all the space in the world for that famously fat sound to sing out, pure, and as close to the human voice as any other sound you will ever hear. The only negative is the seemingly now obligatory inclusion of alternate takes of some tracks - a practice JJ himself abhorred. For my money, this is every bit as good as the better known Eminent JJ Volume 1, and deserves its place at the top of the pantheon of recorded "textbooks" for trombonists. Add this to your collection as a fitting tribute to the man, now sorely missed, who changed the way the trombone was played - and listened to - forever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Album That Lives Up To Its Title, August 20, 2000

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eminent J.J. Johnson 2 (Audio CD)

When the name of your album is "The Amazing Bud Powell," "The Fabulous Fats Navarro" or "The Eminent J.J. Johnson," you'd better live up to the billing. Well, J.J. does! This, the second volume of "Eminent," was originally released on Blue Note as two 10-inch records. The CD compiles two seesions, one from September 1954 and the other from June 1955, with three alternates that were not origianlly released. The first six tunes are from the '54 session featuring Mingus(!), Wynton Kelly, Kenny Clarke and Sabu on congas. These recordings are good, but they bother me because I've never met a jazz conga player that I like. The remaining tunes are from a band with that true Blue Note sound, which could hold its own against any of the period, including the original Jazz Messengers (of course, two of them are here). Johnson, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Paul Chambers and Kenny Clarke are in top form (aren't they always!), especially on "Viscosity" and "Groovin'." While "The Eminent J.J. Johnson, Volume Two" might not be a unanimous selection to the jazz album hall of fame like its predescor "Volume One," it is definitely not to be missed.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff!, December 9, 2006

By 

Anthony Cooper (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2 (Audio CD)

Volume 2 pulls together two sessions, one with Wynton Kelly, Charles Mingus, Kenny Clarke, and Sabu Martinez, and another with Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Paul Chambers, and Kenny Clarke. The first session is better than the second, but the album overall is very good. It's mainstream bebop from 1954 & 1955, 4-minute long songs, melody-solo-melody. What pulls everything together is Johnson's superb trombone playing. 8 of the 13 songs are standards, the others are by J.J. Johnson. Johnson's writing is pretty good, the standards are just more likely to be a ballad. Johnson has both technique and taste, the taste is on display on "Time After Time", and technique is shown in a fast one like "Coffee Pot".