‘The Great Kai And J.J.’: The Landmark Album That Launched Impulse! Records
The 1961 collaboration by two trombone masters was the iconic jazz label’s maiden release.
Names like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Pharoah Sanders usually spring to mind when people think of the iconic jazz label Impulse! Records. Regarded as the label’s saxophone-playing Holy Trinity, those three musical pathfinders embodied Impulse!’s “The New Wave In Jazz” motto. But it wasn’t always like this. Founded by Creed Taylor in 1960 as the jazz imprint of the well-heeled major pop label, ABC/Paramount, Impulse! launched in January 1961 with four album releases. The first was The Great Kai And J.J. by trombonists Kai Winding and J.J. Johnson, a cache of perfectly executed straight-ahead jazz whose polite vibe was closer to easy listening than the avant-garde.
Given their backgrounds, Winding and Johnson were unlikely musical bedfellows. Winding was born in Aarhus, Denmark, and moved to New York when he was twelve. Johnson, two years younger than Winding, was an African American from Indianapolis. Both were prodigies who began their professional careers in their late teens, earning their stripes in swing-era big bands during the early 1940s. Winding blew his trombone in the bands of Sonny Dunham and Alvino Ray before joining the “King of Swing” Benny Goodman’s group. Johnson served his apprenticeship in the big bands of Benny Carter and Count Basie. But both young men desired to play more progressive music and by the mid-40s had moved on from swing: Winding joined arranger Stan Kenton’s innovative ensemble in California while Johnson gravitated to bebop, a musical revolution spearheaded by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in New York.
The two trombonists appeared on a record together in 1949, featuring on an LP called Modern Trombones with Winding’s all-star band occupying the A-side and Johnson’s the flipside. The same year Miles Davis recruited the pair for sessions that resulted in his groundbreaking Birth Of The Cool album, though they played separately on different tracks. Five years later, Winding and Johnson finally played together. Deciding to join forces, they teamed up for Jai And Kai, the first of several album-length collaborations in the 50s that saw them blossom into innovators who redefined the trombone in a modern jazz setting.
In 1960 when Creed Taylor came calling, three years had passed since Winding and Johnson had played together. No one would have guessed that listening to The Great Kai And J.J.. It’s an album defined by its protagonists’ near-telepathic interplay and tight harmonization. The accompanying musicians included rising piano star Bill Evans, whose unique talent for rich chords glistened brightest on the set’s slower numbers, and Miles Davis’ reliable bassman Paul Chambers. Roy Haynes and Art Taylor split the drumming duties.
With their repertoire ranging from slick swingers to bluesy ballads, Winding and Johnson produced cool and effortless music. Both men delivered lively, athletic solos on upbeat tracks like the well-known opener, “This Could Be The Start Of Something Big” and the jazz standard “Side By Side.” The pair revealed their harmonic sensitivity in their warm treatment of Hoagy Carmichael’s nostalgic ballad “Georgia On My Mind.” They also acknowledged more progressive jazz by revamping Thelonious Monk’s modern jazz touchstone “Blue Monk,” softening the piece’s angular melodic phrases to emphasize its blues roots. The album contained two original numbers, both Johnson compositions; the lightly swinging “Judy,” named after his niece, and “Trixie” a delightful jazz waltz with gospel nuances.
Introducing the world to features that would become Impulse!’s hallmarks – deluxe laminated gatefold sleeves combined with an orange and black color scheme – The Great Kai And J.J. established the label’s visual identity. More importantly, it helped to build the label’s audience, establishing a foundation on which Impulse! would build something unexpected and visionary.
