Critically acclaimed veteran trombonist John Fedchock found a fascinating way to cap 30 years as a solo recording artist – with Justifiably J.J., a powerful live tribute album to 20th Century trombone master J.J. Johnson, who is historically embraced as one of the earliest performers on his instrument to embrace bebop.
The cool part is, even if its release coincides with Johnson’s Centennial birthday, the show Fedchock performed at The Jazz Kitchen in Johnson’s hometown of Indianapolis with three contemporary jazz greats from that city was not originally planned to be a celebratory tribute album.
When he joined forces that night with Steve Allee (piano), Jeremy Allen (bass) and Sean Dobbins (drums), the club’s sound engineer asked Fedchock if he would like him to record the show live from the mixing board. To the trombonist’s surprise, the engineer created a high quality, multi-track recording of the alternately barn-burning and soulful, sensitive and sensual renditions of Johnson classics traversing the legend’s career from 1956 through 1998, bookended with the brisk, fiery, hard swinging and improvisation driven “Naptown U.S.A.” (from Johnson’s J is For Jazz) and “Ten 85” (from his last album, Heroes).
The wild ride includes six songs from different eras of Johnson’s career, including the breezy and melodic, easy flowing “Short Cake” (whose dominant key is only revealed in the final measures), the high-spirited, fast grooving “Lullaby of Jazzland” (composed in Johnson’s signature style by Manny Albam) and a wildly exotic, heavily percussive romp into Afro-Cuban territory on “Kenya.” Fedchock and the quartet slow the snappy pace for a faithful reading of Johnson’s favorite composition, the haunting “Lament.”
Johnson’s an important figure in jazz history because while the trombone was very popular as a Dixieland and swing instrument, it wasn’t catching on as a lead bebop instrument until he adapted its complexities to the horn. Fedchock may not have started out to pay homage, but we should be grateful that this live expression of power, passion and love came about.
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