Johnson, Walter
Johnson, Walter
Johnson, Walter, jazz drummer; b. N.Y, Feb. 18, 1904; there, April 26, 1977. Walter Johnson worked with Freddie Johnson’s Red Devils and Bobby Brown’s Band before joining Elmer Snowden (1925-29, except for a brief break in 1926). Until autumn 1937, he worked with Fletcher Henderson (except for spells in 1930 and 1935). He then worked with a string of bands, including Lucky Millinder (1938–39), Claude Hopkins (1939, summer 1940), and Coleman Hawkins’s Big Band (winter/spring 1940). From 1941-42, he rejoined Henderson, and then worked in the house band at the Elks’ Rendezvous, N.Y. Johnson worked primarily with Tab Smith from 1944 until 1954. Shortly afterwards, he left full-time music to work as a bank guard, but continued to freelance. During the 1960s, he continued to gig in N.Y, and occasionally worked with pianist Orville Brown.
—John Chilton Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter