Rudolph Johnson
Rudolph Johnson hails from Columbus, Ohio. Many jazz music insiders considered "Rudy" Johnson the heir apparent to the John Coltrane legacy of improvisational dominance on the tenor and soprano saxophones. Ironically, Johnson was not recorded enough to make a wave in the music industry that would have established him as one of the important jazz saxophonists of his time.
His flawless execution results from a dedication to the music and the instrument rarely matched by any individual. Rudy Johnson is considered by many, the players player. His original traveling trio consisted of Chester Thompson on the Hammond Organ, Herschel Davis on drums and Rudolph playing the tenor and the soprano saxophones.
The mid sixties found Rudolph playing a stint at Jack's Of Sutter on Sutter and Fillmore streets in San Francisco, California. The early Sunday morning jam sessions which started promptly at 6 a.m. often became a battle of the saxes of sort when alto sax man Norman "The Bishop" Williams, would sit in and they would virtually blow the house apart.
Rudolph took me under his wing at which time I traveled with the group to San Francisco and witnessed first hand his rigorous practice routine which usually started at 5 or 6 in the morning with at least a full hour or two of transcendental meditation followed by carefully planned physical exercise, which was then followed by typically 8 to 10 hours of scales, arpeggios and many other saxophone and music studies and theories. His tone is awesome and his command of the instrument in all registers is phenomenal. His circular breathing technique allowed him to blow extremely long phrases seemingly without taking a breath. I feel very fortunate for having had the opportunity to hear this man play in person.
Harold "Stemsy" Hunter
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