Speakeasies to Symphonies

The Jazz Genius of James P. Johnson

Scott E. Brown

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN: 9781496860644
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Music Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

James P. Johnson (1894–1955) is one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American music. However, few people other than scholars and serious fans know of his life and work. Rare jazz aficionados know him as the Father of Harlem Stride piano but his other monumental contributions to American music are seldom acknowledged. Speakeasies to Symphonies: The Jazz Genius of James P. Johnson seeks to rectify this.

Johnson, born in New Jersey, absorbed many musical elements in his youth, especially the African American culture of the Southeastern Seaboard, to create a new musical and rhythmic force for jazz, musical theater, and symphonic music. Johnson's career stretched from the early 1910s to the early 1950s. His heyday was the 1920s—the decade known for the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, rent parties, classic blues singers, the first golden age of Broadway and the Great American Songbook, and, perhaps most notably, the worldwide music and dance phenomenon the Charleston. Johnson not only composed the signature tune that has come to define the decade but was a critical part of the other seminal cornerstones of American music.

Speakeasies to Symphonies presents a detailed portrait of Johnson's life, music, teachers, associates, protégés, and activity right up to his death. Scott E. Brown explores primary sources previously unavailable, including Johnson's personal papers, to fill in many gaps and answer lingering questions in his biography, painting a complete picture of his essential legacy.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. New Brunswick, 1894–1902
• Chapter 2. Jersey City, 1902–1908
• Chapter 3. The Jungles, 1908–1913
• Chapter 4. The Ticklers, 1913–1916
• Chapter 5. First Publications and Recordings, 1916–1917
• Chapter 6. The Giggin’ Years, 1916–1918
• Chapter 7. Toledo, 1919–1920
• Chapter 8. New York Breakout Year, 1921
• Chapter 9. Harlem Stride Piano
• Chapter 10. James P. and Fats Waller
• Chapter 11. Plantation Days, 1922–1923
• Chapter 12. Runnin’ Wild, 1923
• Chapter 13. The Rent Party
• Chapter 14. On Stage, 1924–1926
• Chapter 15. Yamekraw, 1927
• Chapter 16. Keep Shufflin’, 1928
• Chapter 17. St. Louis Blues, 1929–1930
• Chapter 18. Changing Tastes, 1931–1935
• Chapter 19. The Organizer, 1935–1940
• Chapter 20. Spirituals to Swing, 1938–1939
• Chapter 21. Café Society, 1939–1941
• Chapter 22. Concert Hall Realized, 1939–1942
• Chapter 23. In Demand Again, 1942–1943
• Chapter 24. Recording Flurry, 1943–1944
• Chapter 25. Pied Piper, 1944–1945
• Chapter 26. The Slow Decline, 1945–1946
• Chapter 27. New Patrons, 1946–1949
• Chapter 28. Sugar Hill—The Last Innovation, 1949–1950
• Chapter 29. Final Years, 1950–1955 368
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography
• General Index
• Show Index
• Tune Index
• About the Author