February 2021

Marc Johnson is our Bassist of the Month by request but he was already somebody that was in the cue as I’ve been a huge fan all of my life.  I’ve actually known Marc since I was about 9 or so (ok, so we never called each other with girl problems like BFFs but I’ve seen him play dozens of times with my uncle, Peter Erskine, took a lesson from him at my uncle’s apartment in NYC when I was around 10 and we’ve bumped into each other a handful of times over the years and he’s always been very sweet and generous with his time and attention.

Marc is a giant in the jazz community.  Many first became aware of him during his time in Bill Evan’s trio (which wound up being his last trio upon Bill’s passing in 1980).  I primarily knew Marc from the many groups he and my uncle played in together during Peter’s time living in New York.  Most notably, the trio with John Abercrombie and Peter, Bass Desires (Marc’s first group as a leader which consisted of John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Peter), quite a few of my uncle’s albums as a leader as well as a slightly lesser known group “Right Brain Patrol”.  I’m particularly fond of Marc’s 97’ release, “The Sound Of Summer Running”.

Marc is also married to Eliane Elias and the two have recorded and performed together countless times in the past few decades.

I hope you enjoy his playing as much as I do.  He is the consummate bass player.  Endlessly creative and lyrical, with incredible time, tone & feel, having a strong presence.. and all while never overtly dominating the song or band.  He leads from the back, as they say and he never fails to make everything feel wonderful.  Marc is the glue that has held countless bands together.

Just check out his credits on the following Wikipedia page, which reads like a list of ‘who’s who’ in the jazz world.

• Marc’s Wikipedia