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Donald Macleod journeys with James P Johnson as he comes out of retirement and makes a comeback.

James P Johnson is known as the Father of Stride Piano, and composed the most iconic work that captures the essence of the Roaring Twenties, the Charleston. Both pianist and composer, he not only wrote jazz but also music for theatrical shows, symphonic works and opera too. He performed alongside jazz greats such as Fats Waller, Willie the Lion Smith and Sidney Bechet, and also collaborated with George Gershwin as well. Johnson was an early pioneer in the recording industry, and made many studio recordings as a soloist and with his own jazz band. Yet despite all of this, his name has been largely forgotten today. One possible reason for this is that being a transitional figure between ragtime and jazz, he’s been hard to categorise. Each day in this series, Donald Macleod will explore a period in Johnson’s life where Johnson strove to achieve a different role: recording artist, theatre composer, performer and teacher, and also a tickler - a ragtime saloon pianist.

Many years of working late nights as a performer, and also alcohol abuse, started to take its toll on Johnson’s health in later life. He was advised to take a step back from performing and to restrict his alcohol intake, and it was during this period that he had the opportunity to focus more on writing largescale orchestral works. Johnson however wasn’t long in retirement, and soon he stepped back into the limelight, writing music for stage shows, performing both live and in the studio. But after a series of strokes, by the early 1950s Johnson was left irreversibly paralysed. In late November 1955, another massive stroke came and American music lost one of the greatest figures of the day.

Hungry Blues
Ruby Smith, vocals
Jimmy Johnson and His Orchestra

Harlem Hotcha
Omer Simeon and his Trio

Ain’tcha Got Music
Marty Grosz and the Hot Winds

Harlem Symphony
The Concordia Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor

Lonesome Reverie
James P. Johnson, piano

Gut Stomp
James P. Johnson, piano

Blues for Fats
James P. Johnson, piano

You Can’t Lose a Broken Heart
K. D. Lang, vocal
Tony Bennett, vocal
Studio orchestra

Charleston
The This Is Jazz All-Stars

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales