{"title":"Josh Johnson","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"freedom-exercise","title":"Josh Johnson - Freedom Exercise","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3189035354\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/joshjohnsonmusic.bandcamp.com\/album\/freedom-exercise\"\u003eFreedom Exercise by Josh Johnson\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Chicago-area native Josh Johnson moved to Los Angeles eight years ago, he thought his stay would be temporary. The saxophonist and keyboardist would spend a year or two there: enough time to learn from two of his heroes, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, but not a complete geographic pivot. After all, for musicians — especially those making improvised, collective music — where you live and what scene you’re part of can have a monumental effect on the kind of art you make. His hometown had a vibrant musical community in which he was already immersed; there was no immediate reason to seek out something new.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut eight years later, Johnson is still in L.A., where he recorded his debut album Freedom Exercise with three of his closest friends that he describes as “musically omnivorous” — the same quality that inspired him to stay on the West Coast. “A lot of people I've connected with here have opened me up to a lot of things I hadn't imagined,” he says. Johnson’s corner of the L.A. improvised music scene has its epicenter at a long-running Monday night gig helmed by his friend and frequent collaborator (and fellow former Chicagoan) guitarist Jeff Parker at a bar called ETA in Highland Park. There, when he’s not experimenting with Parker — on whose latest album, the critically-acclaimed Suite for Max Brown, he’s featured — Johnson has gotten to know musicians and artists of all stripes. The vibe is intimate and expansive at the same time, much like the album itself: as numerous as Johnson’s influences are, on Freedom Exercise they’re showcased in a way that feels organic, straightforward and unpretentious. Even at its most surprising and complex, the project is ultimately still inviting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It brings in a lot of people who don't go to jazz clubs,” he says. “It's a thing that's been very stimulating for me, because it doesn't feel insular.” That diverse community helped him remember that music-making was most fun for him when he resisted genre orthodoxy — like when he was in high school, learning saxophone and jazz while playing keyboards in church, making minimalist electronic music on his parents’ computer, playing in indie bands and listening to hip-hop and Chicago post-rock. Through friends he met at ETA, he became the touring musical director for crooner Leon Bridges; an unlikely assignment as his reputation has grown rapidly in the jazz world thanks to his work alongside Makaya McCraven and Jeremy Cunningham, but one he says has been transformative. “It’s helped me be a better listener in improvised settings,” he says. “Not just playing to play, but really thinking about why, and what something is for.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat intentionality is self-evident on Freedom Exercise, a collection of songs tied to that same idea of genreless exploration — jazz, post-rock and electronic music are certainly all inspirations, but none reigns exclusively. The stripped-down, urgent album is built on layers of intertwined, distinct melodies occasionally softened by distortion, delay and reverb. Asymmetrical but still inviting, Johnson’s compositions spotlight his sensitivity and restraint; the synth seamlessly interspersed throughout adds an unexpected dimension. The result is concise — 10 songs, most under five minutes — but still expansive, like an intimate gathering in a sprawling city.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Limited Edition Purple LP","offer_id":44667185692895,"sku":"LP-NS-133-PURP","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Standard Black Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667185660127,"sku":"LP-NS-133","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667185725663,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667185758431,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/JJ_FrontCover-e1646418365682.jpg?v=1703789785"},{"product_id":"unusual-object","title":"Josh Johnson - Unusual Object","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2882715058\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/joshjohnsonmusic.bandcamp.com\/album\/unusual-object\"\u003eUnusual Object by Josh Johnson\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eReleases April 5, 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJosh Johnson’s latest solo record, Unusual Object is a world of sound. Johnson’s fantastically processed saxophone and subtle samples and grooves give this work a sort of cyberpunk ambient jazz feel that occasionally crosses into realms akin to classic Warp Records and Jon Hassell’s dreamworld tonalities. But however fantastical and dreamlike Unusual Object may be, these qualities only serve to bring the listener closer to Johnson, to his breath, his sense of song. What, after all, could be more intimate than sitting inside someone’s fantasies and dreams?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohnson executes this all with an indelible elegance, establishing him as a worthy contemporary of fellow modern avant-garde composers like Lea Bertucci, Ian William Craig, and Kelly Moran. Like the latter’s carefully considered prepared piano compositions, Unusual Object is stately, personal, and patently modern.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohnson is a highly in-demand collaborator, working often with Makaya McCraven, Marquis Hill and The Chicago Underground Quartet. He produced and played on Meshell Ndegeocello’s Grammy-nominated The Omnichord Real Book and worked for many years as musical director for Leon Bridges. He’s appeared on recordings by Broken Bells, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Harry Styles and his playing shines brilliantly on the Jeff Parker ETA Quartet’s Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy. Johnson indeed is an indelible part of the Los Angeles scene that gave shape to André 3000’s audaciously transcendent New Blue Sun. But Johnson is no mere supporting character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast year, he made a change. Pulling away from some of his more rigid gigs, Johnson chose to venture further into the realms of his own playing and to further sharpen his own compositional voice. Unusual Object, Johnson says, “is a development and documentation of a more personal world of sound.” This development has been ongoing, for sure, but often in the context of other people’s music. With Unusual Object Johnson asks: “What’s it like for me to create the context for my sound, to frame it myself?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe answer is the spare but endlessly engaging Unusual Object, a work of futuristic jazz and modern composition that will appeal to fans of everything from Oneohtrix Point Never to Shabaka Hutchings, from Plaid to Ornette Coleman. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll sounds by Josh Johnson; except “Quince” which contains drum samples by Aaron Steele\u003cbr\u003e\nAll compositions and arrangements by Josh Johnson (Sky and City Music, BMI); except “All Alone” by Mal Waldron\u003cbr\u003e\nProduced by Josh Johnson \u0026amp; Paul Bryan\u003cbr\u003e\nRecorded by Paul Bryan in Pacific Palisades \u0026amp; Josh Johnson in Glassell Park\u003cbr\u003e\nMixed by Paul Bryan\u003cbr\u003e\nMastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters\u003cbr\u003e\nLacquer cut by Phil Rodriguez at Elysian Masters\u003cbr\u003e\nSequenced by Josh Johnson, Paul Bryan, \u0026amp; Anna Butterss\u003cbr\u003e\nDesign and Layout by Bucky Boudreau\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":46117671534815,"sku":"LP-NS-166","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":46117671567583,"sku":"CD-NS-166","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":46117671600351,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"WAV Download","offer_id":46117671502047,"sku":"NS-166","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Josh-Johnson-Unusual-Object-web-cover-4-scaled.jpg?v=1720899622"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.northern-spy.com\/collections\/josh-johnson.oembed","provider":"Northern Spy Label Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}