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Alphonso Johnson: For Bass Players Only
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
He came to see me play a while back and said my bass sounded like mud, hahaha. It was a bad room, but we shared appetizers and he was very pleasant.
Alphonso Johnson sounds like he is in a very happy place and still growing as a musician. It is hard to imagine a better situation for a musician.
I started playing fretless and pulled my frets out of my P Bass of Doom because of him. There was no Jaco at the time.
I also put in phase switches to get that sound he was getting from his Rex Bogue bass he was using back then.
Damn you Al!
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he is an unsung hero, if Jaco had never come around people would be singing his praises but he was sadly overshadowed by jaco. his weather report stuff is great, his solo work was excellent, and everything after has been really great. he has a unique voice on the bass and is a great player!
Coincidentally, I had a dream about Alphonso just the other night:
In my dream, the son of the producer of a summer musical theater festival I was involved in back during my teenage years (who is now a Facebook friend) was the synthesizer player in Pat Benatar's band. He had called me up because Pat's bass player -- who was Alphonso Johnson -- was leaving the tour, and my friend said he could hook me up to potentially get the gig. When I went to the audition, it consisted entirely of Alphonso asking me questions about the type of sounds I could produce with my bass. E.g.,
- "Can you make it sound like toothpaste?"
- "Can you make it sound like you're playing through a gigantic marshmallow instead of a speaker?"
- "Can you make it sound like a Datsun 240Z?"
I woke up before I found out whether or not I got the gig!
In my dream, the son of the producer of a summer musical theater festival I was involved in back during my teenage years (who is now a Facebook friend) was the synthesizer player in Pat Benatar's band. He had called me up because Pat's bass player -- who was Alphonso Johnson -- was leaving the tour, and my friend said he could hook me up to potentially get the gig. When I went to the audition, it consisted entirely of Alphonso asking me questions about the type of sounds I could produce with my bass. E.g.,
- "Can you make it sound like toothpaste?"
- "Can you make it sound like you're playing through a gigantic marshmallow instead of a speaker?"
- "Can you make it sound like a Datsun 240Z?"
I woke up before I found out whether or not I got the gig!
Good interview! It’s nice to see him aging gracefully and still working on new things, not rehashing old stuff from his past. He was in Weather Report the first time I saw them, in college, and that remains my favorite version of the band.
Always loved Alphonso. He was listed as Al Johnson on early record dates but went full Alphonso because the singer Al Johnson had already made a name for himself in Philly and it's hard enough to earn a living without adding name confusion to it.
I had a chance to try out an early 80's high end Ibanez fretless a while back. It was a great bass, the same model that Alphonso once had. The guy who owned it said I could buy it if interested. I declined, knowing I'd never sound half as good as Alphonso did on it.
I had a chance to try out an early 80's high end Ibanez fretless a while back. It was a great bass, the same model that Alphonso once had. The guy who owned it said I could buy it if interested. I declined, knowing I'd never sound half as good as Alphonso did on it.
The music store I was taking lessons at back in 1994 was hosting a trade show one Saturday and Alphonso Johnson was there doing a clinic sponsored by Ampeg. My bass teacher introduced me to him and I was so nervous (because I was a 15 year old just starting out and this was a man who had played and toured with some true greats), but Alphonso was such a warm and welcoming person who seemed genuinely interested in the start of my bass journey. That he made a stupid kid like me feel like a valuable person to talk shop with inspired me that if I ever got any clout as a bassist, I would want to make others feel as welcome in my presence as he made me feel in his. Pay it forward, like.
And I still remember playing with this punk band from 2010- 2015 and having kids come up to me saying how they always wanted to learn guitar and start a band, but after seeing me they want to play bass. I would always try and channel my inner Alphonso Johnson and inspire them on their music journeys.
Alphonso Johnson not only inspired me to become a better bassist, but to become a better person.
And I still remember playing with this punk band from 2010- 2015 and having kids come up to me saying how they always wanted to learn guitar and start a band, but after seeing me they want to play bass. I would always try and channel my inner Alphonso Johnson and inspire them on their music journeys.
Alphonso Johnson not only inspired me to become a better bassist, but to become a better person.
I have never in my 49 years on this earth with 37 of said years as a bass player heard of this person, but thanks for sharing cause it's awesome!
I’ll have what he’s having.
You must be much of a Jazz Fusion fan and thanks OK. You know who Alphonso Johnson is now.
Alphonso with WR was an early inspiration along with his solo records. The WR records with Alphonso are still huge favorites.
I still recall going to see WR expecting to see Slim only to have this skinny white guy slide across the stage and blow my tiny mind.
I still recall going to see WR expecting to see Slim only to have this skinny white guy slide across the stage and blow my tiny mind.
I guess you're still waiting to find out
Reminds me of Steve Vai's account of auditioning for Zappa; I expect he might have asked you questions like that ...
(If we ever play together, I will have to create compositions *precisely for the purpose* of requiring a bass which sounds like toothpaste, a 240Z, etc ... although I can't be quite as demanding as Frank or your dream-Alphonso; sounding like a 280ZX would be close enough)
He was the founding member of the Yellowjackets. In fact the band was formed to support his solo album and decided to stay together after that.
A cut from the solo album that had the future Yellowjackets members…
A cut from the first Yellowjackets album…
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I knew he got started in fusion, but I've only ever listened to his later stuff (and not much of that). In the Aurex Jazz Festival clip the tone and lines sound an awful lot like Blue Matter era Scofield to me. I'd just never heard him sound that way although I know a bit of his history and knew he has the chops.
I'm more used to him sounding like this:
Here's the rest of this show, killer band with a Brecker chart too. Both Robben and Scofield were in Miles band too.
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That is how I knew him. From his solo album and the first two Yellowjackets albums. I didn’t know you were familiar with his fusion background. As that comment about not knowing about his “John Schofield” phase led me to believe that as that was the time period and albums he showed that on, with a little touch of Allan Holdsworth in there to, IMO.
