Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Tommy Johnson was born John Thomas Johnson on January 7, 1935 in Los Angeles, California. He had a musical upbringing as his father was a baritone soloist in the choir at the Angelus Temple in Echo Park.

He attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and received a bachelor’s degree in music in 1956. He played his first film in 1958, the score for Al Capone and went on to become Hollywood’s first-call tuba player.

Known mostly for playing for television series and commercials, he also was a prolific player in film scores such as Jaws, The Godfather, the Indiana Jones series, the Star Trek film series, The Lion King, Titanic, and over another 120 film scores, working wth the likes of John Williams, James Horner, and Alan Silvestri..

He ventured into playing jazz backing such artists as Frank Sinatra, The Manhattan Transfer and performing with the American Jazz Philharmonic,, as well as rock and roll and pop artists like Weird Al Yankovic and Elvis Presley.

As an educator he taught junior high school music in the Los Angeles Unified School District for nearly 20 years, but for most of his career, he taught advanced tuba players in private lessons and at USC and UCLA.

On October 16, 2006, tubist Tommy Johnson passed away from complications of cancer and kidney failure at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 71.

More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,tuba