Willie Gary “Bunk” Johnson was born December 27, 1889. Johnson was the youngest of 14 children. He had been schooled in sight reading and improvisation by the time he began playing professionally with the Superior Orchestra and the Eagle Band in 1910.
Johnson received lessons from Adam Olivier and began playing professionally in Olivier’s orchestra. Johnson credibly claimed to have played with Buddy Bolden, if not as a regular member of Bolden’s band. Johnson was regarded as one of the leading trumpeters in New Orleans in the years 1905–1915, when he wasn’t touring with minstrel shows and circus bands.
Threatened with bodily harm after he failed to appear for a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade job in 1915, Bunk Johnson left town, touring with shows and then by the early 1920s settling in New Iberia, Louisiana. While living there, Johnson worked in rice mills and the public school system, and continued playing jazz with local groups such as the Black Eagle Band from Crowley and the Banner Orchestra.
In 1931, he lost his trumpet and front teeth when a fight broke out at a dance in Rayne, Louisiana, putting an end to his playing. He thereafter worked in manual labor, occasionally giving music lessons.
In 1938 and 1939, the writers of an early jazz history book, Jazzmen, tracked down Johnson’s address and exchanged letters with him, where he recalled (and possibly embellished) his early career. Johnson stated that he could play again if he only had new teeth and a new trumpet. Soon thereafter he was fitted with a set of dentures and given a trumpet. He made his first recordings in 1942 for Jazz Man Records.
These first recordings propelled Johnson (along with clarinetist George Lewis) into public attention. Johnson and his band played in New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, and New York City and made many more recordings. Johnson’s work in the 1940s shows why he was well regarded by his fellow musicians. On his best days he played with great imagination, subtlety, and beauty.
Bunk Johnson suffered from a stroke in late 1948. He died in New Iberia, Louisiana, on July 7, 1949.
Andy Senior is the Publisher of The Syncopated Times and on occasion he still gets out a Radiola! podcast for our listening pleasure.
