I am asking for YOUR help in making my first recording as a leader a success.
I’ve been playing and recording internationally
and on the New York Jazz scene for over thirty years. You can
hear me on hundreds of jazz recordings as a sideman.
The music I play has deep
roots and was passed down through the many generations of jazz musicians. That is what my CD reflects. It is a culmination of original music
inspired by the sounds of my life. This CD has already been recorded in the
studio, mixed and mastered.
While listening to it, you
will go on a musical journey of different grooves and textures. The music on my CD FAMILY has a very
diverse set of originals that cover different jazz styles and genres. The CD’s opening track Sleepwalk came to me as I sleeping and I awoke with it still in my
head, sang it into my phone recorder and finished it the next morning.
Some idea’s come from a little nudge from
someone else, in this case the great guitarist and my longtime friend Dave
Stryker. He suggested I make my own
CD. I realized that now was the perfect time to
make my CD as a leader.
You may ask, why now? Well, my life is all about the music, so much
that I met my wife Debbie while attending the New England Conservatory of Music
many years ago. She plays the saxophone
and so do three of my uncles. My Uncle Jimmy Tyler played with the
legendary father of the Hammond B3 organ Wild Bill Davis, The Count Basie
Orchestra and other legends of Jazz. My
mom Goldie Tyler was a songwriter and
has many published songs on ASCAP. Her
songs were played and recorded by saxophone great Earl Bostic and the 50’s
vocal group the Five Keys.
So now, I have this pivotal
point in my life where our son, Daryl Johns is leaving home to attend The
Manhattan School of Music. I wanted to capture our magic as a musical family in
a bottle before he left for college. So
my CD idea was born. Daryl is a virtuoso
Jazz Bassist.
Debbie & I raised a son who has the same
passion about music as we do. He grew up
surrounded by the music and absorbed every bit of it in a very natural
way. As a baby, he was held by a
multitude of great players back stage. When
Daryl started to play the bass, every bass player who came through our front
door for a rehearsal with me gave Daryl a mini bass lesson. We took him to many performances throughout
his young life.
I would take Daryl to sit in at my gigs and he
cut his teeth with all the cats I was playing with. As they say; a drummer’s best friend is a
bass player!
Joining me on my CD is of
course, my son Daryl Johns on acoustic
and electric bass, he is 18 yrs old now and is one of the most sought after
young jazz bassist of his generation.
This will be his 5th major recording. And I’m really excited that Debbie Keefe Johns my wife is joining
us on saxophones, she is truly a
great player.
Also joining us are two
great jazz guitarists; Dave Stryker and
Bob DeVos who have made their mark on the jazz world and are like family to
us.
This is just a small
glimpse of our Family and our love, passion & devotion to the music.
In this new age of downloading & purchasing
music on the internet, record companies do not support the artist’s releases
like they use to. The actual physical
CD is still required by most radio stations to play it on the air. So, now the financial aspects are put onto the artists shoulders. This is where I need
to ask for your contribution to help make this project a success.
The CD
has already been recorded, mixed and mastered. What I need from you is help in the cost of the
manufacturing of CD’s to send to radio stations across the country &
funding a national radio campaign, including print adds & magazine coverage
etc.
The music in the
background of the above video is just a sample of what we did in the studio. It’s already a finished recording and your
contribution will be greatly appreciated. You can see below the various levels
of contributions and what you will receive in return besides the good feeling knowing
that you helped to get Steve Johns’ CD entitled Family onto
the national jazz charts, and play lists!
Thanks!
Steve Johns
