Pete Johnson (musician)

Pete Johnson
Johnson c. August 1946
Johnson c. August 1946
Background information
Birth nameKermit Holden Johnson
Born(1904-03-25)March 25, 1904
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedMarch 23, 1967(1967-03-23) (aged 62)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentPiano
Years active1922–1967

Kermit Holden "Pete" Johnson (March 25, 1904 – March 23, 1967)[1][2] was an American boogie-woogie and jazz pianist.

Tony Russell stated in his book The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray that "Johnson shared with the other members of the 'Boogie Woogie Trio' the technical virtuosity and melodic fertility that can make this the most exciting of all piano music styles, but he was more comfortable than Meade Lux Lewis in a band setting; and as an accompanist, unlike Lewis or Albert Ammons, he could sparkle but not outshine his singing partner".[3] Scott Yanow for AllMusic, wrote: "Johnson was one of the three great boogie-woogie pianists", the others being Lewis and Ammons "whose sudden prominence in the late 1930s helped make the style very popular".[2]

  1. ^ Korma, Edward, ed. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Blues. Vol. 1. New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 535. ISBN 978-0-415-92699-7.
  2. ^ a b "Biography by Scott Yanow". AllMusic. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference russell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).