James P. Johnson
- Kenneth Kellogg, Lori Celeste Hicks, Darnell Ishmel, Olivia Duval, Branden C.S. Hood, Elizabeth Gray, Lonel Woods, Kenneth Kiesler, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Monique Spells, Emery Stephens, Rabihah Davis Dunn, De Organizer Chorus
- Michael Gurt, Don Vappie, Tatiana Roitman, Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, Gary Hammond, Peter Mintun, Richard Rosenberg, Creole Serenaders
- Studio Orchestra, Paul Shaw, Michael Forest, Jearlyn Steele, Concordia Orchestra, Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, VocalEssence Chorus
Biography
Active throughout the 1920s and '30s, the sophisticated and influential musician James P. Johnson synthesized many strands of black music--ragtime, blues, popular and sacred song--with his own original stride piano style. Though his young protege Fats Waller went on to popularize stride, Johnson was the masterly father of the style. The majority of his more ambitious works for symphony orchestra have been lost to history, due to the complete lack of respect shown black composers by the classical music world at the time.