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  • William Manuel Johnson: For Other People Named Bill Johnson, See

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    Manzini Mbongeni
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    William Manuel "Bill" Johnson was an American jazz musician born in 1872 who was considered the father of the "slap" style of string bass playing. He began playing this more vigorous technique than pizzicato after accidentally breaking his bow in northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Johnson went on to found the first jazz band to tour widely outside of New Orleans in the 1910s. In the 1920s in Chicago, he assembled King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, considered one of the best early jazz bands. Johnson continued playing jazz into the 1950s, sometimes under different names, and lived to be 100 years old.

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    William Manuel Johnson

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    William Manuel "Bill" Johnson was an American jazz musician born in 1872 who was considered the father of the "slap" style of string bass playing. He began playing this more vigorous technique than pizzicato after accidentally breaking his bow in northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Johnson went on to found the first jazz band to tour widely outside of New Orleans in the 1910s. In the 1920s in Chicago, he assembled King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, considered one of the best early jazz bands. Johnson continued playing jazz into the 1950s, sometimes under different names, and lived to be 100 years old.

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    8 views2 pages

    William Manuel Johnson: For Other People Named Bill Johnson, See

    Uploaded by

    Manzini Mbongeni
    William Manuel "Bill" Johnson was an American jazz musician born in 1872 who was considered the father of the "slap" style of string bass playing. He began playing this more vigorous technique than pizzicato after accidentally breaking his bow in northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Johnson went on to found the first jazz band to tour widely outside of New Orleans in the 1910s. In the 1920s in Chicago, he assembled King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, considered one of the best early jazz bands. Johnson continued playing jazz into the 1950s, sometimes under different names, and lived to be 100 years old.

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    William Manuel Johnson

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    (Redirected from Bill Johnson (double-bassist))
    For other people named Bill Johnson, see Bill Johnson (disambiguation).
    Bill Johnson

    Bill Johnson in 1909
    Background information
    Birth name William Manuel Johnson
    Born August 10, 1872
    Origin United States
    Died December 3, 1972 (age 100)
    Genres Jazz, dixieland
    Instruments string bass
    Years active 1880s1950s
    Associated acts The Original Creole Orchestra,King Oliver's Creole
    Jazz Band,Bill Johnson's Louisiana Jug Band
    William Manuel "Bill" Johnson (August 10, 1872 December 3, 1972), was
    an American jazz musician, considered the father of the "slap" style of string bass playing.
    Johnson claimed to have started "slapping" the strings of his bass (a more vigorous technique
    than the classical pizzicato) after he accidentally broke his bow on the road with his band in
    northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Other New Orleans string bass players picked up this
    style, and spread it across the country with the spread of New Orleans Jazz.
    Johnson was founder and manager of the first jazz band to leave New Orleans and tour widely in
    the 1910s, The Original Creole Orchestra.
    In Chicago in the early 1920s he assembled King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, considered perhaps
    the best of the early ensemble style jazz bands. He taught younger Chicago musicians
    (including Milt Hinton) his "slap" style of string bass playing. He made many fine recordings in
    Chicago in the late 1920s.
    Johnson continued to play with various jazz bands and orchestras into the early 1950s,
    sometimes working under other names. He was also involved in the import/export business along
    the USA-Mexico border.
    Johnson's brother Ollie "Dink" Johnson was also a noted musician and his sister Anita Gonzales
    was common-law wife or perhaps married toFerdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton during his stays in
    California.
    Bill Johnson died in New Braunfels, Texas, at the age of 100.
    Further reading[edit]
    Pioneers of Jazz: The Story of the Creole Band by Lawrence Gushee, Oxford University
    Press, 2005
    External links[edit]
    William Manuel Johnson's family
    William Manuel Johnson's WWI Draft Registration Card and essay
    Bill Johnson at RedHotJazz.com
    Authority control
    WorldCat
    VIAF: 100390397
    LCCN: no98022506
    ISNI: 0000 0001 1339 0608
    GND: 135189411
    BNF: cb13948255q (data)

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