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Randy Johnston
Biography
An expressive, often funky hard bopper who is quite comfortable in soul-jazz settings, Randy Johnston has evolved into one of the finest straightahead jazz guitarists of the Baby Boomer generation. Johnston has never been an introverted sort of player; he is an aggressive, gritty, hard-swinging musician who brings a great deal of blues feeling to his work. The late Grant Green is Johnston's most obvious influence, and other guitarists who have had an impact on his playing include, among others, Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery and George Benson (especially the straightahead recordings that Benson provided for Columbia early in his career). Blues great B.B. King's electric guitar playing has also been cited as an influence on Johnston, which isn't surprising because the Detroit native definitely knows his way around a 12-bar blues.



The guitarist was born in Detroit, MI--a city that has given us a lot of great jazz musicians over the years--in 1956 and moved to Richmond, VA when he was 13. At that point, he was playing rock guitar, and he was a major admirer of the seminal singer/guitarist Jimi Hendrix (who was arguably the first heavy metal artist--he certainly had a major impact on headbangers like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Mahogany Rush and Deep Purple).
Selected Discography

Is It You?
2005