Bass Player: Alphonso Johnson

A massively underrated player due to his proximity to the legendary Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson’s playing on the 1976 Weather Report album, ‘Black Market’ is entirely comparable to Jaco’s and this transcription shows a lot of lines that suggest that he was every bit as creative and inspirational as his successor.

In West Philapdelphia, born and raised… Johnson started off as a double bass player, but switched to electric in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed innovation and fluidity on the electric bass. He sessioned with a few jazz musicians before landing a job with Weather Report, taking over for co-founding member Miroslav Vitous. Johnson debuted with the band on their 1974 ‘Mysterious Traveller’ recording and appeared on both ‘Tale Spinnin” (1975) and ‘Black Market’ before he left the band to work with drummer Biily Cobham in a band that featured a young John Scofield on guitar. During 1976-77 he recorded three solo albums as a leader for the Epic label.

Johnson was one of the first musicians to introduce the Chapman Stick to the public. In 1977, his knowledge of the instrument offered him a rehearsal with Genesis who were looking for a replacement for guitarist Steve Hackett. Being more of a bassist than a guitarist, Johnson instead recommended his friend ex-Sweetbottom guitarist and fellow session musician Daryl Steurmer who would go on to remain a member of Genesis’s touring band until the 2007 reunion tour.

Johnson was one of two bass players on Phil Collins’s first solo album, ‘Face Value’ in 1981.

In early 1982, Johnson joined Grateful Dead member Bon Weir’s side project Bobby and the Midnites. He would reunite with Weir in 2000, playing bass in place of  Phil Lesh on tour with The Other Ones. He has also performed fusion versions of Grateful Dead songs alongside Billy Cobham in the band called Jazz Is Dead.

In 1996, Johnson played bass on tracks “Dance on a Volcano” and “Fountain of Salmacis” on Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited album.

Later in 1996, Johnson toured Europe and Japan with composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter

The transcription was requested by someone on Talkbass.com. It’s a challenging transcription as Johnson’s bass is competing directly with Joe Zawinul’s bass synth and the bass is sometimes to low in the mix to be absolutely clear what he is doing. The closing section has been represented as a short repeated riff rather than a complete transcription of every note as there are only so many hours in the day….