J.J. Inc.

AMG Review of J.J. Inc.

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

Trombonist J.J. Johnson's 1960 sextet is featured on this Columbia CD. Most notable among the sidemen is a rather young trumpeter named Freddie Hubbard on one of his first sessions; also helping out are tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Arthur Harper and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. Seven of the compositions (which are joined by Dizzy Gillespie's "Blue 'N' Boogie") are Johnson's and, although none caught on, "Mohawk," "In Walked Horace" and "Fatback" (which is heard in two versions) are all fairly memorable. The six songs on the original LP are joined by three others from the same dates, two of which were released slightly earlier for the first time on a Johnson Mosaic box set that includes all of this music. A fine straight-ahead set. [Originally released on LP in 1960, J.J. Inc. was reissued on an import-only Japanese CD with bonus tracks in 2001.]