Randy Johnston (musician)

The Beatles's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show inspired Johnston to start playing guitar in childhood.[1] He heard jazz for the first time on the album The Smithsonian Collection of Jazz and was influenced by guitarists Kenny Burrell and Grant Green.[1]

Johnston's family moved to Richmond, Virginia, when he was thirteen.[1][2] He was a member of rock bands that performed at parties and school dances.[1] In the late 1970s he attended the University of Miami, occasionally involved in jam sessions at a Unitarian Church with Ira Sullivan.[2] In the early 1980s he moved to New York City and worked with Warne Marsh, then as a sideman with Houston Person and Etta Jones.[1][2] Person produced his first album, Walk On, which was engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.[2] He has worked with Joey DeFrancesco, Lou Donaldson, Lee Konitz, and Lonnie Smith.[2]

• Walk On (Muse, 1992)
• Jubilation (Muse, 1994)
• In-a-Chord (Muse, 1994)
• Somewhere in the Night (HighNote, 1997)
• Riding the Curve (J-Curve, 1998)
• Homage (J-Curve, 2000)
• Detour Ahead (HighNote, 2001)
• Hit & Run (HighNote, 2002)
• Is It You (HighNote, 2005)
• People Music (Random Act, 2011)

• Official site