The Bunk Johnson Story would make for a fascinating movie. Born around 1889 (he claimed it was 1879 so he could say that he had played with Buddy Bolden), Johnson grew up very poor but developed into one of New Orleans’ top trumpeters of the 1910-30 period. A fight during a dance in 1931 resulted in his teeth being damaged and his career stopping. He worked at manual jobs for the rest of the decade.
Discovered by the writers of the book Jazzmen in 1939 after they interviewed other New Orleans pioneers who mentioned Johnson, they raised money to buy the unrecorded legend dentures and a new trumpet. By 1942 he was beginning to appear on records and was on his way to becoming a cult figure.
Johnson’s trumpet playing, although sometimes erratic due to his drinking, returned to its earlier form and he had a few years of glory before ill health caused his retirement in 1947. A braggart who made some outrageous claims and an alcoholic, Johnson was ridiculed by many followers of modern jazz while at the same time being held up as a representative of “the real jazz” by those who felt that jazz had taken a wrong turn during the swing era. He had many adventures in San Francisco, Boston (where he drank his way out of Sidney Bechet’s band), and New York before his retirement.
The American Music label has done a superior job of making most of Bunk Johnson’s recordings (other t
