My Heart

...sensuous and engaging, the recording conveys the feeling of actual minds and bodies producing these sounds in real time.
Cadence

Establishing himself in Minneapolis, bassist Jeff Johnson moved east in the early '70s to play with Philly Joe Jones's band. Spending the next two decades moving from town to town, he settled quickly into a musically rich existence with his 1989 move to Seattle. Besides becoming a member of the pivotal trios of both Hal Galper and Jessica Williams, Johnson was creating another body of work with saxophonist John Gross and drummer Billy Mintz, whom he'd met while living in San Diego, along with pianist Art Resnick, who went back to his earliest playing days and had recently moved to Portland. Wrapping up a 1991 west coast tour with this quartet, Jeff booked a studio for a few hours to capture where the muse had been taking them. Tape in hand, they agreed they had found some magic, and then all went their separate ways. They rekindled the moments again and again in different combinations over the years, while My Heart remained on the shelf. Always wanting to release the album to honor the care John, Billy, and Art gave to his music, 32 years later that moment has come.

"...a trailblazing approach to composition and melodic improvisation that, like his signature playing on bass, stands out as original and fearless."
All About Jazz

Production Info:

Produced By Jeff Johnson
Recorded Live to 2-track DAT by Dennis Carter
at Falcon Studios, Portland, OR on Dec. 4, 1991
Edited by Floyd Reitsma at Studio Litho, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Rachel Field
at Resonant Mastering, Seattle, WA
Cover drawing by Jeff Johnson
Jeff Johnson photograph by Lisa Hagen Glynn
Cover design & layout by John Bishop

Reviews of My Heart

All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4-STARS What could possibly be so interesting about a thirty-two-year old session of first takes, recorded live to 2-track DAT by a quartet led by a Seattle- based bassist who is not exactly a household name? A quick answer would include superlatives such as "masterful," or "historic." A brief history of bassist and composer Jeff Johnson creates a ...

Jazz Weekly (George W Harris)
Bassist Jeff Johnson teams up with John Gross/ts, Art Resnick/p and Billy Mintz/dr for a collection of lyrical originals. He links well with Mintz, blending in with the brushes on the soft "My Heart" while adding textures around "Watercolors" and subtly soloing on a reflective "Companions". Resnick is in a Bill Evans mood on "Watercolors", while gi ...

Jazz'halo (Belgium) (Georges Tonla Briquet)
Lost Recordings.... A "live" recording dating back to December 4, 1991 when tenor saxophonist John Gross, pianist Art Resnick, drummer Billy Mintz and bassist Jeff Johnson got to work together at Falcon Studios in Portland, Oregon. On the program all compositions by Johnson ranging from razor-sharp bop with solos by the four musicians ('Linden S ...

Take Effect (Tom Haugen)
The one time Minneapolis and east coast resident Jeff Johnson brings his exceptional bass playing to these 6 in depth and very collaborative tracks that welcome John Gross, Art Resnick and Billy Mintz. "Linden Station" opens the listen with Gross' flowing and bright sax alongside the acrobatic bass plucking and frisky drums, and "Leviathan" fol ...

Jazz'n'More (Switzerland) (Michael van Gee)
After 32 years, this album by bassist Jeff Johnson (*1954) is finally released, with a great quartet: John Gross (ts), Art Resnick (p) and Billy Mintz. Six of the bassist's compositions that he wrote for this quartet and which were perfected at several concerts in the US states of Washington and Oregon before being recorded - in just four hours - i ...