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Todd Johnson and Jim Stinnett | “One Good-looking Guy?” : Recommended Listening With Damian Erskine
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Todd Johnson and Jim Stinnett
“One Good-looking Guy?”
www.toddjohnsonmusic.com, www.jimstinnett.com
Those who know, know…. Todd Johnson is the man! Aside from being one of the nicest and most generous of spirit guys I’ve come across, he is also the jazz vocabulary and bass chordal guru (keep your eyes open for Todd’s new DVD, “Fishin’ for Grips” to be released very soon. This may become my new favorite study material for some time to come). I’ve also become a fan of his collaborations with an old teacher of mine, Jim Stinnett (Berklee College of Music). The two compliment each other wonderfully.
“One Good-looking Guy?” is exactly what I was hoping for in this release. Along with Joe Hunt & Dino Govoni (wow!… these guys burn) Todd and Jim have struck a wonderful balance of musicality, beauty and showmanship. Jim is (essentially) the bass player in the group and Todd (primarily) plays the role of the guitarist, displaying his (waaay beyond your average bass player) chordal work and ever-so-tastey solos.
Altho my jazz solo-guitarist knowledge isn’t what it could be and I’m sure others could come up with better comparisons, Todd reminded me a bit of Les Paul or Jody Fisher… Just wonderfully musical in every way and with a full command of both the vocabulary of jazz and his instrument. Jim also really shines on this release with his upright playing.. Great tone, time-feel and wonderful lines…
While stylistically, this is a completely straight-ahead jazz affair and may not be every one’s cup of tea, I STRONGLY suggest this for all extended range bassists (5, 6 strings or above!) that want to explore and expand their chordal concepts, as well as jazz lovers in general. I know that I can’t wait to start working through some of this stuff! You owe it to your musicality to internalize what these guys are doing here…