Jimmy Johnson – Bass

One of the greatest guitar/bass/drums trios that I have every heard, the Wayne Johnson Trio featured a true innovator in Jimmy Johnson who played a 5-string Alembic long before 5-string became the standard for players the world over. It wasn’t just the low B that made him an interesting player, though. For me, it was his use of the whole neck as a routine flavour in his lines (as opposed to solos). He did do solos but his ensemble playing was exceptional and incredibly creative. Most of it is impossible to transcribe but I have had a go at ‘Ojai’ from the first Wayne Johnson Trio record, ‘Grasshopper’ from 1983. The one frustration is the little octave things he does right at the end; I just can’t find it.

The chart is challenging as he is all over the neck and he also lets things ring whilst playing over them which is hard to read and hard to write down but there is enough of the performance here to make it worth spending a little time with.