TOM JOHNSON JAZZ ORCHESTRA

TIME TAKES ODD TURNS

Independent label

Tom Johnson, Yamaha S-80/Moog Voyager/Valve trombone/Samba Whistle/tambourine/ composer/ arranger; Joel Tucker, guitars/guitar synth; Alex Wignall, piano/electric piano; Brendan Keller-Tuberg, Electric & acoustic bass; Francis Bassett-Dilley, drums; REEDS: Brianna Martinez & Noam Niv, flute/piccolo; Ana Nelson, clarinet; Garrett Fasig, soprano & alto saxophone; Kyle Brooks, alto saxophone; Chance Davis & Andrew Kreitner, tenor saxophone; Joseph Trahan, baritone saxophone. TRUMPETS: Clark Hunt, lead & Sam Butler; Jack Kurtz & Nick Recktenwald, trumpet & flugelhorns; TROMBONES: Marcel Penzes, Leah Warman, & Matt Acosta, bass trombone. ADDITIONAL GUESTS: Michael Stricklin, flute solo; Jake Buckner, French horn; Michael Johnson, Yamaha S-80; Joe Galvin, congas/percussion.

The music charts that Tom Johnson has written and composed reflect stages of his life and were composed over time. Always with a song in his heart and music racing around in his brain, for years he worked as a psychologist and full-time professor by day.  Choosing financial stability over a career as a musician, he still played his trumpet and piano whenever and wherever he could. Johnson always dreamed of writing for and performing with a big band.  This album is his dream come true project.

The first tune he has composed and arranged for his jazz orchestra is “Naught Won” that began as an experiment using a major7sus4 chord throughout the tune.

His album title suggests the premise of this production.  He is taking a trek through times in his life, represented by tunes like “80’s Suite: Book One, One More time, and Lucky.”  He began composing this suite of music in the 1980s, inspired by the progressive rock band, ‘Genesis.’  A tune he calls “Cats and Mouses” could be the soundtrack for a Tom & Jerry cartoon, giving drummer Francis Bassett-Dilley a musical landscape to show off his percussion magic.

“Well You Better” is a swing number that quickly becomes one of my favorites. Alex Wignall takes a brief but very bluesy solo on piano. The horns dance and blend harmonically.

In May of 2023, a band comprised of IU students and graduates, as well as members of the Indianapolis jazz scene, went into the studio to record Professor Tom Johnson’s dream-come-true music. It is now available for public consumption.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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