Johnson, Freddy, 1904-1961

found: Freddy Johnson and his orchestra, 1933-1939 [SR] p1995:container (Freddy Johnson, piano) program notes (b. 3-12-1904, New York City; d. 3-24-1961, New York; pianist)

found: Grove Music online, 5 Jan. 2015(Johnson, Freddy; born New York, 12 March 1904; died New York, 24 March 1961; American pianist; formed his own band in 1924, then worked with Elmer Snowden around 1927; after playing with Noble Sissle he joined Sam Wooding, with whom he toured Europe from mid-1928 into 1929; in the latter year he went to Paris, where he worked as a soloist and co-led a band with Arthur Briggs; he made several recordings with this ensemble; in 1933 he made a brief appearance as an unaccompanied soloist in the film Chotard et Cie and worked with the entertainer Freddy Taylor, and from February 1934 he played in Belgium and the Netherlands, where he recorded with Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins; he also played in a trio with Hawkins at the Negro Palace, Amsterdam, in 1938; he was a member of Willie Lewis's band for two years from spring 1939, then opened his own club in Amsterdam, La Cubana; he was arrested by the Nazis in December 1941 and imprisoned in Bavaria, but was repatriated in March 1944; on his return he worked with George James and played with Garvin Bushell's band at Tony Pastor's club; during the late 1940s and the 1950s he was active mainly as a piano teacher and vocal coach, though he held a number of residencies; he returned to Europe late in 1959 with the show Free and Easy and in 1960 played for several weeks in the Netherlands)