From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Mar 25, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Pete Johnson
 
PETE JOHNSON

Born Kermit Johnson, 25 March 1904, Kansas City, Missouri
Died 23 March 1967, Buffalo, New York

Pete Johnson is considered by many as the best boogie woogie
pianist of all time. Johnson himself always resented being classed
simply as a boogie pianist ; he was equally at home with jazz and
blues. His unmatchable power and swing are as exceptional as his
easy rolling rhythm, which Johnson attributed to the fact that he had
played drums for four years when he first started out in music.
In the 20s and 30s music was everywhere in Kansas City and Pete
learnt quickly from the pianists who were playing the local clubs at the
time. From 1926-1938 he was a popular attraction at KC clubs where
he had teamed up with part-time barman / blues singer Big Joe Turner.
Producer John Hammond persuaded them to try their luck in New York
City. After the famous "From Spirituals To Swing" concert at Carnegie
Hall in December 1938, which also featured Albert Ammons and Meade
Lux Lewis, boogie woogie became highly popular all over the US. This
led to a long residence at Cafe Society in NYC, together with Ammons
and Lewis (the "Boogie Woogie Trio"). Johnson moved to Buffalo in 1950
and toured extensively during the fifties, also in Europe, until his health
began to deteriorate in the late fifties, after which his appearances became
more and more infrequent.
He has left a voluminous recorded legacy, both as a solo pianist and with
others, like Turner and Ammons (check out the 1941 piano duets of Ammons
and Johnson on RCA).

CD recommendation: Blues & Boogie Woogie Master (Jazz Archives).
Twenty tracks from 1938-1946, including three duets with Ammons.
Further reading: Peter J. Silvester, A Left Hand Like God : A History of
Boogie-Woogie Piano. London : Quartet Books, 1988.