Molly Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson performing in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Margaret Leslie Johnson |
| Born | 1959 (age 64–65) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Jazz, rock, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Website | www |
Margaret Leslie "Molly" Johnson, OC is a Canadian singer of pop and jazz.
Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts. Johnson's brother Clark Johnson, an actor and director ( Homicide: Life on the Street , The Wire ), and sister Taborah Johnson, an actor and singer, are also noted Canadian performers. [1]
Raised in Toronto, Ontario, as the child of a white mother and a black father, Johnson started her career in the mid-1960s when, as a young grade schooler, she and her brother were tapped by Toronto producer Ed Mirvish to appear in Porgy and Bess at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. [1] In time Porgy and Bess was followed by South Pacific , Finian's Rainbow and other musicals. [2] The budding child star was soon enrolled the National Ballet School as she desired to become a choreographer. [1] By the age of 17, Johnson was fronting a disco band named A Chocolate Affair. [2] The group lasted just over a year.
She was lead vocalist for two rock bands, Alta Moda in the 1980s [3] and Infidels in the 1990s. [4] Both of her bands had notable singles in Canada (Alta Moda's "Julian" and Infidels' "100 Watt Bulb" and "Celebrate"), but both bands broke up after just one album each.
Also in 1980s, she performed as a backing vocalist with Toronto group Breeding Ground, most notably on their singles "Happy Now I Know" and "Ceremony of Love", both of which received consistent college radio airplay, and had rotation on MuchMusic. She also performed with them live whenever her commitments with Alta Moda weren't in conflict. In 1989, she performed the song "The Best We Both Can Be" for the film Babar: The Movie , and also provided voice work for Babar and the Adventures of Badou in 2010.
Beginning in 1993, Johnson established an annual concert series, the Kumbaya Festival as a benefit for Canadian charities working around HIV and AIDS. [1] She helped to raise over $1 million for people living with AIDS/HIV. [1]
Although she has performed as a jazz singer throughout her career, beginning with Aaron Davis and David Piltch in the band Blue Monday [5] and then with a band of backing musicians who would later become prominent in their own right as Big Sugar, [6] she did not release a jazz album until her self-titled solo debut in 2000. [7] She followed up with Another Day (2003). Both albums were well received at home and went on to be successful in France, where she continues to tour. [2] In 2006 she released her third solo album Messin' Around. [2]
Johnson became the first Canadian female vocalist in the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival's 17-year history to sell out a show on the mainstage. She has performed aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia before the Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and has performed for Nelson Mandela and Quincy Jones. She has been the subject of various media feature stories, including Adrienne Clarkson Presents , June Callwood's National Treasures, and Bravo!'s Live at the Rehearsal Hall. [2]
In 2007, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. [8]
Johnson was the weekend host of CBC Radio 2's Radio 2 Morning from September 2008 until December 2013. [2]
On November 11, 2008, Johnson released her fourth full-length album, a record of standards entitled Lucky, via Universal Music Canada and Universal Music France. [2] In March 2009 Lucky took home the Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. [2]
She is currently working on The Black History Project: Canada - an initiative she has started to update Canadian history to include its impact and involvement with regards to Black Canadian history and the Underground Railroad.
Anita Belle Colton, known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances that shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to O'Day, pig Latin for "dough", slang for money.
Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy.
Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role in the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, and jazz fusion. He is best known for his acclaimed collaborations with Miles Davis.
Alta Moda was a Canadian funk rock band formed in 1979 in Toronto. It originally consisted of singer Molly Johnson and guitarist Norman Orenstein. Drummer Steven Gelineau and bassist Etric Lyons were added in 1982 and 1983 respectively.
Infidels were a Canadian funk rock band in the 1990s. The band won a Juno Award as Most Promising Group in 1992.
Charles James Shavers was an American jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, Tommy Dorsey, and Billie Holiday. He was also an arranger and composer, and one of his compositions, "Undecided", is a jazz standard.
Anna Marie Wooldridge, known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards as well as writing and singing her own material.
Taborah Johnson, also known as Tabby Johnson, is a Canadian singer and actress. She is the sister of actor Clark Johnson and rock and jazz singer Molly Johnson.
Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz vocalist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong and singer Ella Fitzgerald, released on Verve Records in 1959. The third and final of the pair's albums for the label, it is a suite of selections from the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess. Orchestral arrangements are by Russell Garcia, who had previously arranged the 1956 jazz vocal recording The Complete Porgy and Bess.
Porgy and Bess, the opera by George Gershwin, has been recorded by a variety of artists since it was completed in 1935, including renditions by jazz instrumentalists and vocalists, in addition to operatic treatments.
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.
George Louis Henry Evans is a Canadian jazz singer.
Gwendolyn Dianne Brooks, was a soul, r&b and jazz singer from New Jersey. With the Three Playmates, Brooks recorded several songs in 1957. She moved to Toronto shortly thereafter. Her part in Canadian soul music history began when the group Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and the Soul Searchers was formed. As a solo singer, she recorded two albums and several singles of her own. Her biggest solo hit was "Walkin' on My Mind" in 1969. She was also a prolific session singer. As a vocalist, she provided backing vocals on albums by a multitude of artists that include Anne Murray, Gino Vannelli and Richie Havens. She was also a song-writer.
Bernie Glow was an American trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s.
Joseph Benjamin Wilder was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.
Norman Orenstein is a Canadian composer, record producer, and musician.
Julie Crochetière is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and pianist.
The collaborations between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong have attracted much attention over the years. The artists were both widely known icons not just in the areas of big band, jazz, and swing music but across 20th century popular music in general. The two African-American musicians produced three official releases together in Ella and Louis (1956), Ella and Louis Again (1957), and Porgy and Bess (1959). Each release earned both commercial and critical success. As well, tracks related to those albums have also appeared in various forms in multi-artist collections and other such records.
Mike Downes is a Canadian jazz musician, composer, arranger and educator who specializes on the upright bass, composition and arranging. Downes has appeared on JUNO award-winning and nominated recordings, including his own Ripple Effect, which won a 2014 JUNO Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year, and "Root Structure", which won the 2018 JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year:Solo.
Samara Joy McLendon is an American jazz singer. She released her self-titled debut album in 2021 and was subsequently named Best New Artist by JazzTimes. Her second album, Linger Awhile (2022), reached number one on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. At the 2023 Grammy Awards, she won the awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist. Her 2023 single "Tight" won Best Jazz Performance at the following ceremony.
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