James Weldon Johnson
Currently no information available.
While known to the musical community as a composer/lyricist, Johnson was truly a 'Renaissance' man and the Black voice of his generation. He was the first Black Lawyer to become a member of the Florida Bar. He later came north to New York City (Harlem), where he became an 'Ambassador', not just to other Black men, but also a Black ambassador to the White community. Among his musical works are:
"Lift Every Voice", still a great and popular Negro spiritual.
"Under The Bamboo Tree", music by James Weldon Johnson and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson, with the lyric by Bob Cole, performer and writer.

   Arthur Johnston
b. 1898, New York, NY, USA. d. May 5, 1954, Corona del Mar, CA, USA.
Overview
Arthur Johnston is remembered today for his work on Hollywood musicals of the 1930's.

Brief Chronology:
-----------------
1931
       "Just One More Chance"
1934
      "Cocktails for Two", Sam Coslow was the co-composer. Probably Johnston's most famous tune. It was sung by
           Danish singer Carl Brisson in the Hollywood production of 'Murder at The Vanities'.
       "My Old Flame"
1936 From film 'Belle of the Nineties'. Mae West sang,
      "Pennies from Heaven", co-composed with Sam Coslow.

Arthur Johnston is a member of The Songwriters' Hall of Fame.

   Isham Jones
b. Jan. 31, 1894, Coalton, Ohio, USA. d. Oct. 19, 1956, Hollywood, CA, USA.
Overview
As a boy, this great American bandleader studied piano and saxophone. In 1915, when he was just 21 years old, he went to Chicago, IL, played sax with various bands and then formed his own jazz band. It was in Chicago that Isham's orchestra finally made it's first big success, at the Golden Mill. Jones followed this with a successful run at the Rainbow Gardens. He then appeared at the College Inn, where the band remained for 6 years. When Jones left Chicago, he toured the U.S. and Europe with the band.

Brief Chronology:
-----------------
1919 Jones published his first song
       "Meet Me in Bubble Land", lyric by Caspar Nathan and Joe Manne
1921 Jones' Band, with Louis Panico on trumpet, records "Wabash Blues", and it sells 2 million records.
1922 Jones wrote his first big hit song
       "On The Alamo", lyric by Gilbert Keyes and Joe Lyons
Then came a succession of hit songs, most with Gus Kahn lyrics.
       "Swinging Down the Lane"
       "It Had to be You"
       "I'll See You in My Dreams"
       "Indiana Moon" lyric by Benny Davis
       "Spain"
       "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else"

It should be noted that early on, in the 1920's, Isham had introduced Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust", by performing it in it's original version (A Ragtime piano solo).

In the thirties and forties, he wrote:
       "You're Just A Dream Come True", lyric Bernie Grossman.
       "There is No Greater Love", lyric by Marty Symes
       "My Best To You", lyric by Gene Willadsen
       "How Many Tears Must Fall"

In the late 1930's Jones retired from the music business and lived on a secluded Colorado ranch. He died in Hollywood, CA in 1956, at age 62. He is a member of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame.

   Kenneth V. Jones
Currently No Information on this British Composer.
His film credits include:
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)
Horse's Mouth, The (1958)
Indiscreet (1958)
Intent to kill (1958)
Tom Thumb (1958)
High Flight (1958)
Room 43 (1958)
Task Force (1958)
Bandit of Zhobe< The (1959)
Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
Surprise Package (co-written with Frankel)
Oscar Wilde (1960)
Jazz Boat (1960)
Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)
Two Way Stretch (1961)
Ferry to Hong Kong (1961)
Green Helmet, The (1961)
Nearly a Nasty Accident (1962)
Tarzan Goes to India (1962)
Operation Snatch (1962)
Cairo (1963)
Horror Hotel (1963)
Psyche '59 (1964)
Dr Crippen (1964)
Projected Man, The (1967)
Maroc 7 (1967)
Battle Beneath the Earth (1968)
Who Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)

Douglas Gamley and Kenneth Jones also `completed' Benjamin's work on the music for Fire Down Below (1960).

   Richard M. Jones
Currently no information available.
Overview
A Black New Orleans composer, pianist, and bandleader.

His song "Trouble In Mind" was originally recorded by blues singer Chippie Hill in the mid 1920's. It became one of the most recorded of all the blues songs.

   Scott Joplin
b. Nov. 24, 1868, Texarkana, TX, USA. d. April 4, 1919 New York, NY, USA.
Overview
It was Scott's musical parents who taught him to play piano. A little later, Louis Chauvin gave him his first lessons in playing ragtime. As a young man, he became part of some wandering musicians, and he played piano in various St. Louis cafes. In 1893, he led an orchestra at the Chicago World's Fair. In 1896, he finally settled in Sedalia, MO. He played the piano in many clubs and cafes, and in one of them, the Maple Leaf Club, John Scott, a local music publisher, heard him and offered to publish some of his work. Scott, who was also working with Jelly Roll Morton, was following a trail of Negro folkmusic. He was also instrumental in transcribing much of the early "banjo" style of music to the Piano. It was this early music - widely heard in Taverns and Brothels- that would become the forerunner of the later Jazz.

In 1897, William H. Krell (a White man) composed and published the first true Rag - Mississippi Rag. It became very popular, and soon many other composers were writing Rags too. In 1899, Scott Joplin published his first rag, "Original Rag". It was followed, in the same year, by "Maple Leaf Rag", perhaps the best known of all the Rags..

Scott also wrote a primer on playing rags. He composed the ragtime opera "A Guest of Honor", which, in 1902, was mounted on a St. Louis, MO stage. In 1911, his second opera, "Tremonisha" was produced in Harlem, New York City.

During his career, Joplin wrote more than 50 rags. He died in New York City, in 1919. He was 51 years old.

   Louis Jordan
b. 1908, Brinkley, Arkansas, USA, d. 1975, USA
Overview
One of the big names in popular music during the forties. Louis composed and introduced his songs via his recordings with the 'Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five' band. The band only had a short five year run of success, but his five songs were all million sellers.

Brief Chronology:
-----------------
1944 "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?", a million-seller.
1945 "Caldonia (What Makes Your Big Head So Hard?)". bigger hit for Woody Herman band.
1946
"Beware, Brother, Beware"
"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"
1949 "Saturday Night Fish Fry" was Jordan's fifth and last million seller.

One critic (Leonard Feather) has suggested that 'teenage pop' grew out of 'rock and roll', which in turn had come out of 'rhythm and blues', which was based upon the music of Louis Jordan.

   Wilfred Josephs
b. 1927, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK., d. 1997
This British musician composed prolifically for both television and film. He first studied dentistry, but then decided to make music his life's work. Josephs originally studied dentistry, but then turned to music. He studied with Arthur Milner, and attended the GSM (1954-57), and then in Paris in 1958 with Max Deutsch.
His films include:
Mata Hari (1985)
Martin's Day (1984)
Pope John Paul II (1984 - TV)
"Disraeli" (1979 mini-TV Series)
"Pride and Prejudice" (1979) (mini-TV Series)
Churchill and the Generals (1979 TV)
Norman Conquests: Living Together, The (1978 TV: title music)
Norman Conquests: Round and Round the Garden, The (1978 TV: title music)
Norman Conquests: Table Manners, The (1978 TV: title music)
Mannen i skuggan (1978. aka: Black Sun in USA)
Uncanny, The (1977)
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1977 TV)
"I, Claudius" (1976 mini-TV Series)
All Creatures Great and Small (1974)
This Is Callan (1974. aka Neutralizer, The) ... aka in UK TV: This Is Callan)
Dark Places (1974)
Swallows and Amazons (1974)
Robinson Crusoe (1974 TV)
Pollyanna (1973 TV)
"Guardians, The" (1971 TV Series He composed the theme)
Life of David Ben Gurion, 42:6, The (1970)
Amor y medias (1969)
My Side of the Mountain (1969)
"Prisoner, The" (1967 TV Series)
Deadly Bees, The (1966)
Twenty-Four Hours to Kill (1965)
Fanatic (1965 aka Die! Die! My Darling! in USA)
Webster Boy, The (1962. aka Middle of Nowhere)
Cash on Demand (1961)

Both, his "Symphony No. 5" and "Requiem" were recorded by Unicorn.

   James Price Johnson
b: Feb. 1, 1894, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, d: Nov. 17, 1955, New York, NY, USA
Overview
Here's a photo of J. P. Johnson, an American Jazz musician, songwriter, and pianist who is best remembered for writing the music and lyrics for "Charleston", -a huge 1923 hit after it was heard in the Broadway show Running Wild. The song gave its name to the popular 1920s dance, and remains extremely popular to this day. The song was originally composed in 1913, and James P. played it at New York city dances for Black Longshoremen who had recently moved north from South Carolina. He became a very well known sessions pianist and accompanied other performers on well over 400 recordings, backing up such 'Classic' Blues singers of the 1920s as Ida Cox, Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith. From 1916 on, hundreds of piano rolls were released under his own name, some early on by the Aeolian Co., and then mainly by QRS. He is very well remembered today as the father of the "stride" piano technique. His 1921 release of "Carolina Shout" may be the first recorded Jazz piano solo

As a child, Johnson studied with his mother as well as with private tutors. When his family moved to New York City, his professional career started when be began playing during his school's summer vacations. Later he would go on to playing in a "sporting house", rent parties, and bars. One of his good friends was Luckey Roberts.. During the teens, he had also written some instrumental Rags including the "Steeplechase Rag" and the "Twilight Rag". Near the end of World War I, Johnson was fronting a small band at Harlem's 'Clef Club'. He also had a solo performance spot at the then famed Barron Wilkins' Cabaret (For more information on these clubs, please see our Barlem Reverie page. )

His first road show job came as musical director for Dudley's Smart Set. He scored some Black musical revues including "Plantation Days" (with which he toured England and Europe), and the 1923 show "Running Wild" with it's big hit, "Charleston", a song that perhaps epitomizes and defines the "roaring Twenties", when America (and the World) went "Charleston" Mad! (His lyricist for the "Charleston" was Cecil Mack. Interestingly, the song made a lot of money for the team, -still no one ever remembers Mack's lyric.) In 1928, he scored the show "Keep Shufflin'" in collaboration with his former piano student Thomas "Fats" Waller. Waller had studied with Johnson in 1919, and Waller's own style became an extension of Johnson's "Stride" technique.

When "Plantation Days" returned from it's European tour, Johnson became resident in Hollywood, where he first acted (and played piano) in the Bessie Smith 1929 short subject St. Louis Blues. In 1930, his composition "Yamacraw: A Negro Rhapsody" was part of the score for the 1930 film Yamakraw, (spelled that way). He also appeared and composed for several other film shorts. In addition, he recorded both as accompanist to many singers, and as a soloist.

In 1930, he returned to his home in the Jamaica, Queens, section of New York City and began to devote his time to composing concert music based on traditional American Negro themes. Among these are:
       "Yamecraw: A Negro Rhapsody" (1928),
       "Tone Poem" (1930),
       "Symphony Harlem" (1932), (In 1937, this four movement work was presented as
             a Ballet at Harlem's Lafayette Theatre.)
       (1934) "A Porter's Lovesong to A Chambermaid", Andy Razaf lyric. (Fats Waller hit!)
       A symphonic version of W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" (1936),
       "De Organizer" (1940), a one-act opera with lyrics by Langston Hughes.

In 1940, Johnson became semi-active due to paralysis resulting from a cerebral Stroke. In 1945, two parts of his "Symphony Harlem" were heard at a Carnegie Hall concert, and he had recovered sufficiently to appear at a Greenwich Village (New York City) club. In 1949, he was in Los Angeles for a few months scoring for the show Sugar Hill (the name refers to a neighborhood in the Harlem area of New York City.)

While Johnson's symphonic works are not popular and seldom performed, some of his Pop songs remain very popular to this day, including:
       "Old Fashioned Love", and
       "If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)".
Sadly, in 1951, he suffered a second Stroke, the result of which left him bedridden without the power of speech. He was still bedridden when he died in 1955. Generally considered the "Father of the Stride Piano", his greatest contribution may bave been his influence on young musicians such as "Duke" Ellington, "Fats" Waller, and Thelonious Monk.

   [ Walter Jurmann ]
b: Oct. 12, 1903, Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire [now Austria]; d: June 17, 1971, Budapest, Hungary. (Cardiac Arrest)
aka: Walter Jurman
Here's a photo of Walter Jurmann, who was the son of an upper middle class Viennese family. Though committed to the study of Medicine, he early on was drawn to the music of the 1920s and '30s. In the '20s, he relocated to Germany, where, in 1927, he found work as the pianist in Berlin's Hotel Eden. Upon hearing him play, famed Hungarian composer Franz Lehar is reported to have told him "you'll soon become famous!" While playing at the Eden, He met Fritz Rotter, already a successful lyricist, and the two men began to work together as a team.

In 1926, the Polish composer Bronislaw Kaper, (1902-1983), relocated to Berlin, and in 1931 Rotter introduced Jurmann to Kaper. Kaper had extended musical skills (he had attended the Warsaw and Vienna Conservatories, as well as Vienna University), and soon was arranging and orchestrating Jurman's melodies. It is interesting to note that during their Berlin years, their output was so prolific that their publishers began issuing a certain amount of their music under the pseudonyms of 'Bob Handers' (aka: Henders), 'Erich Walter Schmidt' and 'Caspar Paolo' .

In 1928, Jurmann and Rotter had their first big 'hit' "Was Weiß Du Denn, Wie Verliebt Ich Bin" ("Do you know how much I am in love?"). This was followed by another tune, "Veronika, Der Lenz ist Da" ("Veronica, Spring is Here"). The song was a huge hit for 'The Comedian Harmonists'

With the arrival of "talking pictures", Jurmann and Kaper became involved with the German film industry, and as a consequence of their association with several German-French and Austrian-French film co-productions, they went to Paris in 1933. In France, they composed for both a number of French films as well as for revues, and the Parisian firm 'Edition Coda' published most of their works (occasionally using the name "Pierre Candell").

By 1933, the Nazis were making Germany untenable for a great many artists. Jurmann relocated to Paris, France, and in 1934, Louis B. Mayer, head of the MGM studios, persuaded the team to come to Hollywood. With a 7 year contract from Metro Goldwyn Meyer (MGM) in his pocket, he sailed for America. In Hollywood, he often collaborated with such composers and lyricists as Bronislaw Kaper (aka: Caper), Bert Kalmar , and Harry Ruby, Gus Kahn,, and others.

Interestingly, as mentioned above, in the German film studios Jurmann had worked with both composer Bronislaw Caper (aka: Kaper), and with lyricist Fritz Rotter. Both of those men also emigrated to America, and again worked with Jurmann in the Hollywood studios.

In America, Jurman contributed songs for the 1935 films "A Night at the Opera", "The Mutiny on the Bounty", "Escapade" and one year later the big hit song "San Francisco", in the film of the same name starring Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy. Due to the changing nature of film music, Jurmann began to loosen his ties to MGM, and in 1938 the Jurmann/Kaper collaboration was also amicably dissolved.

By the early 1940s, Jurmann was working as a freelance composer, and eventually retired from professional song-composing altogether. During the last years of his life, he composed songs for the American cities of San Antonio, TX, Houston, TX, and Los Angeles, CA. He also composed many love songs for his second wife, Yvonne, a wonderful lady whom he had married in 1953.

As late as 1997, Jurman's music was again heard in the German film "Comedian Harmonists" (subtitled: "Eine Legende kehrt zurck". AKA in USA 1999: 'The Harmonists') A 'bio-pic' on the career of the Comedian Harmonists. As one of the true pioneers of the early German "talkies", Jurmann contributed much music to the early films, including (but not limited to):
        "Les Nuits Moscovites" (1934. aka in USA 1938: 'Moscow Nights')
        "Le Chant du Destin", (1933. some songs)
        "Heut Kommt's Drauf an" (1933. "Mein Gorilla hast 'ne Villa im Zoo" is a Paso-Doble!)
        "Ich Will Dich Liebe Lehren" (1933)(songs)
        "Ein Lied fr Dich" (1933. aka in USA: A Song for You, Title song, sung by Jan Kiepura,
            was a huge hit.)
        "Ihre Majestat und Die Liebe" (1933)
        "Madame ne veut pas d'enfants" (1933 aka in USA: "No Children Wanted")
        "Mariage à responsabilité limitée" (1933)
        "On a volé un homme" (1933 aka: "Mam Stolen")
        "Tout pour l'amour" (1933)
        "Une Femme au Volant" (1933 aka in USA: "A Woman at the Wheel)
        "Abenteuer am Lido" (1933. he contributed some songs)
        "Kind, ich freu' mich auf Dein Kommen" (1933 aka: "Amor an der Leine".
            He contributed some songs.)
        "Madame Wnscht Keine Kinder" (1933 aka in USA: "Madame Wants No Children")
        "Es wird schon wieder besser" (1932. aka in USA 1934: "Things Are Getting
           Better Already")
        "Hochzeitsreise zu dritt" (1932. aka USA: "Three on a Honeymoon"; aka:
            'Wenn ich einmal eine Dummheit mache' )
        "L'Homme qui ne sait pas dire non" (1932)
        "Melodie der Liebe" (1932. aka in USA: 'Right to Happiness'. With song "Shade, daß
            Liebe ein Mächen ist (Love is a Fairy Tale)")
        "Skandal in der Parkstraß" (1932 songs)
        "Ein Toller Einfall" (1932. aka in USA: 'A Mad Idea')
        "Voyage de noces" (1932 aka in USA: 'Honeymoon Trip', and in France: 'Jacqueline et
           l'amour')
        "Zwei vom Sdexpress" (1932)(background themes)
        "Hirsekorn greift ein" (1932 aka in USA: 'Hirsekorn Butts In')
        "Ehe mit beschräkter Haftung" (1931. aka in USA: 'Marriage with Limited Liability')
        "Salto Mortale" (1931. aka in USA: 'Trapeze' in 1932)
        "Son altesse l'amour" (1931)
        "Und das ist die Hauptsache" (1931. aka in USA: 'That's All That Matters')
        "Her Majesty, Love" (1931 songs)
        "Ich glaub' nie mehr an eine Frau" (1930. aka in USA: 'Never Trust a Woman',
            had the song "Deine Mutter bleibt immer bei Dir")
        "Ihre Majestät die Liebe" (1930. aka in USA: Her Majesty Love - 1933)
        "Die Lindenwirtin", (1930. had song "Ohne Dich hat dieses Leben keinen Reiz fr mich")

Among the American films on which Jurman worked are:
  "The Women of Pitcairn Island", (1957. he composed the title song)
  "Key to the City "(1950. had his song "San Francisco")
  "Code of the West" (1947 had his song "Oo! La La!")
  "Nob Hill" (1945 had his song "San Francisco")
  "His Butler's Sister" (1943 had several of his songs - credited as Walter Jurman)
  "Thousands Cheer" (1943 had his song "Three Letters in the Mail Box")
  "Presenting Lily Mars" (1943. Starring Judy Garland. had some of his songs)
  "Hello, Frisco, Hello" (1943 with his song "San Francisco")
  "Seven Sweethearts" (1942. aka: 'Tulip Time')
  "Nice Girl?" (1941. had his song "Thank You, America")
  "Too Many Husbands" (1940. aka in U.K.: 'My Two Husbands' had his song "Tyrolka")
  "Birthright" (1939. had his song "All God's Children Got Rhythm")
  "Miracle on Main Street" (1939. had some of his songs)
  "The Great Commandment" (1939)
  "El Milagro de la Calle Mayor" (1939 had some songs)
  "Everybody Sing" (1938. Starred Allan Jones, Judy Garland and Fanny Brice.)
  "The Spy Ring" (1938. he was uncredited. aka: 'International Spy' and
  nbsp;     'Somewhere in Paris')
  "A Day at the Races" (1937 starring the Marx Bros.)
  "Man of the People" (1937)
  "Three Smart Girls" (1936)
  "Trouble for Two" (1936. He was uncredited. aka: 'The Suicide Club')
  "Little Boy Blue" (1936. he wrote the background themes)
  "San Francisco" (1936. Starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald. Had the songs "San Francisco" and "Happy New Year". The song "San Francisco" became that city's official anthem.)

    "We Went to College" 1936. (aka UK: 1936: 'The Old School Tie'; aka UK 1940:
         'My Two Husbands')
    "Two Hearts in Wax Time" (1935. had some of his songs)
    "The Perfect Gentleman" (1935. her was uncredited. aka 1935 UK: 'Imperfect Lady')
    "Last of the Pagans" (1935. he was uncredited. aka in Australia: 'Typee')
    "Kind Lady" (1935. aka in UK: 'House of Menace'. Had the song "The Duchess Has a Twinkle in Her Eye")

    "A Night at the Opera" (1935 stars: Marx Brothers, Allan Jones and Kitty Carlyle)
    "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935. Starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable. Jurmann's lovely composition "Love Song of Tahiti" was uncredited)

    "Escapade" (1935. aka: 'Masquerade' Starred Louise Rainer.)

Among the many interpreters, on the European continent, of Jurmann's songs are such names as Richard Tauber, Greta Keller, Hans Albers, Willy Fritsch, while in North America, one finds Jeanette MacDonald, Judy Garland, Benjamino Gigli, Mario Lanza, "Duke" Ellington, and many others who have sung and played his songs.

Curiously, Jurmann's music is very well known throughout the world, yet few folks recall his name. Perhaps it is indicative of the type of man he was; one who sought no personal fame, but was pleased that his songs brought happiness to so many.

In 1953, Jurmann married Yvonne Jellinek, a very attractive young lady, from Budapest, Hungary, that he had first met at a party (in the USA). He had sat at the piano and played for her his hit song "Du Bist Nicht Die Erste" ("You Are Not The First"). Still...lovely Yvonne was to be his last. It was a very happy marriage that lasted till Walter's demise in 1971. Fortunately, Ms Jurmann is still with us today (2003) and helped with this information on her famous and talented husband.