Jazz Connection Magazine     .     July  2003     .     www.jazzconnectionmag.com

Ever Learning, Ever Growing

Pianist Graham Johnson Takes Experiences From Chico Jazz Scene With Him To Norway, College

by

Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Some people may look upon Graham Johnson as a musical prodigy. But the quiet, unassuming,18-year-old keyboardist/composer from Chico, CA, doesn't consider himself as such. In fact, he says his talent that has graced the Chico jazz scene for the past four years has only developed through lots of "sweat," perhaps a few "tears," and thankfully, with virtually no "blood."

"I work hard at things I really want to do," Johnson said from his home. "As far as natural ability goes, it came as a result of a lot of listening."

Even at so young an age, Johnson's hard work has earned him the respect and admiration of his musical peers. He's performed and composed pieces for Chico High School's concert and jazz bands, and he has gigged with local professional ensembles including Young American Stars, Buddy Kelser and the Gold Tones, and the Skyliners Big Band, among others. But it is in collaboration with his father, bassist Scott Johnson, performing at the many restaurants and coffee houses that permeate the Northern California college town, where the keyboard titan is most recognized. 

As easily as he has become recognized on the music scene in Chico, Johnson hopes that he will be equally recognized during his year-long stay in Norway, and after which, as he continues his education at Oberlin College in Ohio. 

"There's a lot of interest in music in Norway," Johnson said of his impending sojourn to the Scandinavian country, which begins at the end of this month as part of a cultural exchange program. "When I visited there last year, I didn't see any jazz clubs, but jazz is around. They have their folk music which I would like to explore. Although a good number of people there speak English, I want to speak Norwegian and play music. That will help to open a lot of doors there. I hope to form a group while in Norway."

In his quest to satisfy his insatiable hunger for musical growth, knowledge and self-expression, Johnson will be the first to tell you that listening is the impetus which drives him toward artistic excellence.

"I've always been learning from others," Johnson said. "Being a part of the Chico jazz scene, I got to see what's all there. With my own music, other people in general have said they've enjoyed hearing my compositions."

While Johnson is relentless in his pursuit of his artistic development on the keyboards, he is even more relentless when it comes to composing music. Since he first started writing ten years ago, the precocious teen has racked up 30 songs to his credit. Some are more pop-related tunes containing classical, jazz and rock influences, he said.

Part of his collection of original works also include modern jazz originals which were recorded on two self-produced CDs  -  Blue Harmony (1999 Bassmon ) and Reflect (2001 Bassmon)  -  all before his 18th birthday! The elder Johnson accompanies him on these recordings on electric bass. (Check out Johnson's website at  www.grahamjohnson.biz  for CD purchase information.)

"The opportunities for creativity and self-expression appear more in jazz than any other type of music," Johnson said. "It has an intellectual depth that rock and punk rock doesn't have. There is so much you can do with jazz and so much history behind it. There's so many different types of jazz, too. I seem to always find new things that I like."

What Johnson seems to gravitate to more is the modern and "cool jazz" sounds from the 1960s as played by such jazz giants as John Coltrane, Mile Davis and Bill Evans. He cites Evans, Count Basie, Jessica Williams, Chick Corea, Jimmy Rowles, Thelonius Monk, Herbie Hancock, and contemporary artist Cyrus Chestnut as piano influences. Also, the compositions and keyboard playing of  Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake & Palmer fame, have had a huge impact on Johnson's compositional development, he said.  

"I also like the swing stuff a lot, having played more of it than any other types of jazz," Johnson said.

The modern style of jazz seems to compliment Johnson's "quirky" approach on the piano, he said.

"I'm pretty deliberate when I play," Johnson said. "I try to play more conservatively (not playing too many notes). I try to think about each note that I play and to make it have some significance. My playing technique tends to be more heavy handed, not so graceful like a concert pianist. It's sort of 'Monkish' at times. It's quirky. I like to drop in little surprises now and then."

Born on May 16, 1985, in Woodland, CA, Johnson grew up the first few years of his life in nearby Davis before moving with his family to Chico. At age three, he started taking lessons on piano with Irene Cobeen of Music Express, being classically trained through the Suzuki method. Ten years later, he completed the Suzuki Classical Series of instruction.

While the Suzuki method may be good for developing technique, Johnson doesn't necessarily recommend it for beginners on any instrument, he said.

"It doesn't emphasize theory," Johnson said. "I initially got music theory from the Alfred Piano Series and through other music instructors."

What initially interested the young Johnson about the piano was the instrument's versatility, he said.

"It's an orchestra in a box," he said. "For composing, it's the best instrument I could have to play. I can play it solo or in a group. I can play classical, jazz, pop, you name it. I can play with a big band or a small combo. It's also fun playing around with a synthesizer and all the different voices you can get out of the keyboard."

Since Johnson's first piano lesson, a father and son musical bonding took root, nurtured through the years to its present-day collaboration de familia.

"My dad was always there with his bass playing along on classical songs or whatever I was working on at the time," Johnson said.

By age 8, Johnson branched out musically to the next level: composition. The first song he ever wrote was a holiday ditty called Halloween Night, he said.

"I never recorded that one," Johnson said with a great sigh of relief.

The youngster's early compositional talents were all based on intuition, hearing single melodies in his head, Johnson said.

"I didn't know anything about theory," he said. "I went by the adage, 'if it sounds good, play it.' As I started getting more into composing, I realized it would be nice to know why this works. Even today, my intuition is always way ahead of what I actually know about music theory-wise."

Johnson's thirst for musical knowledge became more focused when he turn 14. He began taking a more active interest in jazz by listening attentively to his father's collection of jazz recordings, he said.

Both father and son then took private lessons together from local saxophonist/bassist Greg D'Augelli.

"Greg got us more into jazz," Johnson said. "He also taught me the basics like how to read chords."

Those private lessons proved extremely helpful to the young pianist as it laid the foundation for more advanced studies in music theory, thus enabling Johnson to have more tools at his disposal for composing music.

"It's amazing how much theory is out there," Johnson said. "If you know the theory, there's so many different ways you can take music within the tonal tradition. We get most of our concept of theories from Bach Chorals."

One of the more dynamic private instructors of music theory Johnson has studied with is local reedman Charles Haynes of Chico. Haynes, who did early residencies in New York and Connecticut and then spent time studying music throughout western and southern Africa, is known for his explosive tenor sax work with the Skyliners and self-led small groups. He is also an avid jazz historian and writer, having authored a comprehensive text on the method of jazz improvisation.

"Charlie has been a huge inspiration," Johnson said.

The sentiments are mutual as Haynes envisions unlimited potential for his former teen pupil.

"If I'd known what Graham has known at 12 years old, I wouldn't be doing $50-a-night gigs right now," Haynes said in a telephone conversation from his home in Chico. "He absorbs things like a sponge. He's very systematic. He's very serious. He knows a lot about what music can do and wants to know more. The only thing holding him back right now is a fertile environment. He's very sensitive to teachers who think they know everything and who act like God. He already knows what's going on. He's been on the street. He's been playing for people, plus his dad helps him quite a bit. His strong point is assimilating conceptual cross-references. He has an amazing memory. He will not forget something. It goes in one ear and stays there! He's a very serious musician. He's hungry."

These days, Johnson's compositional mode is based more on chord progressions and experimenting with scale-chord relationships, things that he had been studying with Haynes, he said.

More recently, Johnson has started writing for larger groups. He arranged his own composition of Rolling Tide, originally written for piano and bass, for the Chico High School Concert Band of which Johnson joined in his senior year. The piece was performed at the band's annual spring concert in May.

He's also written two pieces for the Chico High School Jazz Band (he's been the band's pianist since his sophomore year):  A Kicking Tune and Centennial Groove, celebrating Chico High's 100th anniversary last year, as well as an arrangement of Charlie Parker's Blues For Alice for the school's small jazz ensemble.

Since there are no pianos in the concert band, Johnson spent his tenure with that group playing percussion instruments that have similarities to the keyboard such as the vibraphone, xylophone, and bells. He even played the timpani, he said.

On May 15, Johnson joined his school's concert band to perform at Disneyland as part of  "Magic Music Days" at the celebrated theme park. Chico High was one of the few selected high schools along with junior high schools throughout California invited to perform at the Magic Kingdom, Johnson said.

"It was fun," Johnson said of the experience. "A few people sat down to listen to us besides parents. I thought the best part of it all happened the next day when we went into a studio to record a soundtrack for a movie. A film was projected on a wall in front of us and we played music to go with the film. It was all sight-reading, but it was designed to give us the experience of recording a soundtrack."

Most teenagers would probably concur that the best part about performing at Disneyland would be going on the rides for free afterwards. But Johnson was an exception.

"Actually, that got kind of boring," he said.

Another highlight in Johnson's student musical career was his selection as the piano accompanist for the Chico High School Jazz Choir during the group's performance in Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 21. The CHS Jazz Choir, comprised of all seniors under the direction of Lynn Bankhead, was one of 20 high school choirs invited to attended this year's vocal jazz fest headed by Phil Matson held at the prestigious concert hall.

Each choir performed individually and then together as a mass chorus filling Carnegie Hall to about one-third of its audience capacity, Johnson said.

"It was my first time in New York and it was a cool experience," Johnson said. "We prepared two pieces for our performance. We attended rehearsals and classes with the other groups. We stayed the weekend in New York at a hotel next to Grand Central Station."

Sightseeing in the Big Apple was also part of the weekend's agenda with visits to Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero and a last-minute decision to go to the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway at 51st Street to hear legendary guitarist Les Paul hold Monday evening court. 

"It was great!" Johnson said. "Our table was right next to the stage. Les had two other guitarists with him that night. I even got to meet Les after the show."

During his tenure at Chico High, Johnson was also a member of the Ballroom Dance Club and was involved during his senior year as a student mentor in the school's Mentorship Program, helping freshman students adjust to the rigors and pressures of high school.

In addition to performing with various school aggregations, Johnson has also turned a lot of heads by playing in a number of local outside groups during the past few years. His longest tenure (six years) has been as primary accompanist for Young American Stars, a children's performance troupe. Under the direction of Irene Cobeen of Music Express in Chico, this award winning group of young singers and dancers have performed a wide variety of shows locally and at the State Fair in Sacramento as well as at various county fairs.

Another early gig was with the now disbanded Buddy Kelser and the Gold Tones, a group that played swing and other popular tunes from the1930s through the1980s.

"That was my first experience playing in a band with a drummer," Johnson said. "It was a good stepping stone."

From there Johnson went to join the Skyliners, a 17-piece big band based in Chico comprised of some of the best musicians in Northern California. The Skyliners, directed by chanteuse Joey Mahoney and her husband, guitarist John Mahoney, have become the premiere dance band in the area. In recent years they have performed special "Stage Canteen" engagements in Paradise with Paula Kelly, Jr., and The Modernaires, The Mills Brothers, and this past May with singer Peter Marshall, former host of television's Hollywood Squares.

"The Skyliners are a great group to play with," Johnson said. "It was fun playing for the Peter Marshall concert."

Since playing with the Skyliners, Johnson has taken advantage of his association with the band as another opportunity for artistic growth and development, according to Joey Mahoney.

"Since Graham was the youngest member of our group, he was always so willing to learn from the older members of the band," said Mahoney via telephone from her home in Chico. "Sometimes these older members would apologize to him for being so critical and for making suggestions all the time. He would tell them that he was there to learn. He's always willing to take suggestions from people. He has come so far in his playing since he first joined us. We had heard him play before he joined us and knew he was a wonderful musician."

But for the past four years, Johnson has been gigging regularly around Chico's coffee houses and restaurants playing original tunes and standards with his father, the musical Ying to his Yang.

"We collaborate very closely as to how we play these tunes," Johnson said. "Because I've been playing with him all my life, we communicate really well. I think of music as a language, and in that sense, we communicate well. We also communicate well beyond music so when we play together, I can fill in with changes and he responds."

And for Scott, playing with his son is all about learning, communicating and above all, having fun, he said.

"It's such a big experience to play music and then to be able to play it with Graham," the elder Johnson said at home. "I've learned a lot just by going through Graham's Suzuki program. By developing his piano skills, it brought me back to the fundamentals of being a bassist and accompanist. We've had a lot of encouragement along the way. It's been fun."

Besides the great music father and son make together, the senior Johnson feels very fortunate of the special bond he and his son have, he said.

"I thoroughly enjoy hearing echoes of all kinds of different musical flavors coming through in Graham's work," Scott Johnson said. "We've had fun just listening to different musicians and trading music back and forth. In this day and age, all kinds of genres are breaking down and people are mixing all kinds of styles and influences and it's bringing music to different levels. It's all about communicating with others and expressing yourself. It's good energy."

Johnson is "ready, willing and able" to take the good energy that he's generated as part of the Chico jazz scene with him to Norway. He's going overseas as part of the American Field Service Cultural Exchange Program where he will live for a year with a host family while attending school in Melhus, a small town 20 kilometers from Trondheim (pop. 150,000), the third largest city in Norway.

"I'm excited about going!" Johnson said. "I realize I'm in limbo now, being between high school and college. We have friends there. My dad was a exchange student in the same area, so we know a family in Trondheim."

Prior to his exodus for Norway on July 31, Johnson will keep busy continuing to brush up on his Norwegian and getting a mind-set for tolerating lutifesk, an infamous Norwegian dish composed of cod fish soaked in lye.

"I'm not much on lutefisk but I like fish dishes a lot," Johnson said with a sheepish grin. 

Before he bids bon voyage to Chico, Johnson and father will perform together four times at two Chico venues during the month of July. They will appear at the Redwood Forest on Wednesday, July 9 and Wednesday, July 23 from 7 to 9 p.m.; and at the Bean Scene on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 26, both from 7 to 9 p.m.

After returning home from Norway next July, Johnson will have a few weeks to spend with family and friends before heading off to Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH, just south of Cleveland. Oberlin is noted for its Conservatory of Music but Johnson will be enrolled at the college not the Conservatory, majoring in economics, he said.

"Once there, I'll have the option of applying for a double major if I want," Johnson said. "If accepted, I could do a major in jazz studies as well as economics. That's one of the things that attracted me to Oberlin. Even though I choose not to major in music, I can still take music classes at the Conservatory."

While studies of economics and music may seem unrelated on the surface, Johnson sees a close tie between the two disciplines in relation to the music industry, he said.

"Marketing music on line and pirating music is a big problem," he said. "I marketed my own music on line for awhile at mp3.com  and on my own website. I haven't been too successful with it. I've been a lot more successful selling CDs at gigs and at local record stores. I'm interested in finding new business models so that musicians can use the Internet as a tool of marketing successfully. The music industry is suffering now. I think in the end the Internet will prove to be a positive thing for the music industry. Studying economics may increase my own artistic success because I'll be getting better at marketing my music and selling it to an international audience."

In any event, what Johnson will bring to his new academic home at Oberlin as well as to Norway are his experiences in the "trenches" and a continued willingness to grow in his craft, he said.

"I think I bring with me the ability to communicate in music through jam sessions and playing a variety of styles," the teen pianist said. "I also have a general open-mindedness about music having composed a number of different things for different bands."

Along the way, Johnson will be vigilant in search of a sound that's uniquely his own, he said.

"I think I'll find that by listening to others and by taking ideas from others to eventually find my own voice," Johnson said. "Then I can create something that's unique, to be an innovator rather than being an imitator."

But having spent most of his professional career performing in a small college town environment, Johnson has, since living in Chico, learned a large number of valuable lessons that will help to enhance his professional development, he said.

"I got to know a lot of people well," he said. "It's more intimate. It's given me an opportunity to be part of the music scene and to be known more around town. It's given me more of a spotlight than if I had lived in larger places. I'll be basically starting from scratch now and I look forward to that. I know if I want the intimate kind of experience, the small town is where to have it."

But before he leaves for those "far away places," Johnson offered this bit of advice to younger players:

"Listen to everything you can get your hands on," Johnson said. "Play with as many people as you have opportunity. Keep an open mind with all different types of music. Take something from whatever you listen to."

Johnson has taken his own advice. In the midst of his own musical gleaning, he has managed to always leave behind much more than what his has taken. Such abundance has been made evident with the various groups with which he has played, especially with the jazz duo he formed with his father.

"I haven't given as much thought to my contributions to the Chico jazz scene as realizing how much I got from it," Johnson said. "I don't know if I've contributed significantly. I know that it has been fun. Getting to know more and more musicians has had a snow-ball effect. I'd be playing a gig and another musician will walk up and introduce him/herself and then we'll play together such as (saxophonist) Mark Bloom and (bassist) Christine LaPado. I hope others have enjoyed playing with me. People have told me they like hearing my compositions. I hope I've been able to make contributions at least in that way."

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