Osie Johnson

James "Osie" Johnson (January 11, 1923, in Washington, D.C. – February 10, 1966, in New York City) was a jazz drummer, arranger and singer.

He first worked with Sabby Lewis and then, after service in the United States Navy freelanced for a time in Chicago. From 1951 to 1953 he worked in Earl Hines's band.

He can be heard on albums by Paul Gonsalves, Zoot Sims, and Mose Allison and is the drummer on Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife". (Some sources list Don Lamond as the drummer on "Mack the Knife"). He recorded the album A Bit of the Blues as a singer and had arranged at a "hit" for singer Dinah Washington. His final recordings as a singer were on a J. J. Johnson album, now compiled as a collection called Goodies.

Osie died of kidney failure in 1966, at the age of 43.

Television appearances

In 1957, Johnson appeared with Thelonious Monk and Ahmed Abdul-Malik on The Sound of Jazz.

Discography

As leader

• 1955: Johnson's Whacks
• 1955: Osie's Oasis with Henry Coker, Charlie Fowlkes, Milt Hinton, Bill Hughes, Thad Jones, Dick Katz, Wendell Marshall, Frank Wess, Ernie Wilkins
• 1955: Swingin' Sounds
• 1957: The Happy Jazz of Osie Johnson (Bethlehem)

As sideman

With Manny Albam

• The Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1956) with Ernie Wilkins

With Mose Allison

• I Don't Worry About a Thing (Atlantic, 1962)

With Bob Brookmeyer

• Brookmeyer (Vik, 1956)
• Jazz Concerto Grosso (ABC-Paramount, 1957) with Gerry Mulligan and Phil Sunkel
• The Street Swingers (World Pacific, 1957) with Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney
• Kansas City Revisited (United Artists, 1958)

With Clifford Brown

• The Beginning and the End (Columbia, 1973)

With Ray Bryant

• Ray Bryant Trio (Epic, 1956)

With Kenny Burrell

• Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1961 [1983])

With Jimmy Cleveland

• Introducing Jimmy Cleveland and His All Stars (EmArcy, 1955)
• Rhythm Crazy (EmArcy, 1959 [1964])

With Arnett Cobb

• Smooth Sailing (Prestige, 1959)

With Al Cohn

• Mr. Music (RCA Victor, 1955)
• The Natural Seven (RCA Victor, 1955)
• That Old Feeling (RCA Victor, 1955)
• Four Brass One Tenor (RCA Victor, 1955)
• From A to...Z (RCA Victor, 1956) with Zoot Sims
• The Sax Section (Epic, 1956)
• Cohn on the Saxophone (Dawn, 1956)

With Freddy Cole

• Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues (Dot, 1964)

With Art Farmer

• Last Night When We Were Young (ABC-Paramount, 1957)

With Curtis Fuller

• Cabin in the Sky (Impulse!, 1962)

With Bennie Green

• Bennie Green Blows His Horn (Prestige, 1955)

With Freddie Green

• Mr. Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1955)

With Urbie Green

• All About Urbie Green and His Big Band (ABC-Paramount, 1956)

With Tiny Grimes

• Callin' the Blues (Prestige, 1958) with J. C. Higginbotham

With Gigi Gryce

• Gigi Gryce (MetroJazz, 1958)

With Lionel Hampton

• You Better Know It!!! (Impulse!, 1965)

With Johnny Hartman

• The Voice That Is! (Impulse!, 1964)

With Coleman Hawkins

• Accent on Tenor Sax (Urania, 1955)
• The Hawk in Hi Fi (RCA Victor, 1956)
• The Hawk in Paris (Vik, 1956)
• Soul (Prestige, 1958)
• Hawk Eyes (Prestige, 1959)
• Coleman Hawkins All Stars (Swingville, 1960) with Joe Thomas and Vic Dickenson
• At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (Moodsville, 1960)
• Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra (Crown, 1960)
• The Hawk Swings (Crown, 1960)

With Johnny Hodges

• Sandy's Gone (Verve, 1963)
• Blue Rabbit (Verve, 1964)
• Con-Soul & Sax (RCA Victor, 1965) with Wild Bill Davis

With Claude Hopkins

• Yes Indeed! (Swingville, 1960) with Buddy Tate and Emmett Berry

With Langston Hughes

• Weary Blues (MGM, 1958)

With Illinois Jacquet

• The Kid and the Brute (Clef, 1955) with Ben Webster

With Budd Johnson

• French Cookin' (Argo, 1963)

With J. J. Johnson

• Goodies (RCA, 1965)

With Hank Jones

• The Talented Touch (Capitol, 1958)
• This Is Ragtime Now! (ABC-Paramount, 1964)

With Quincy Jones

• The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
• Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)

With Mundell Lowe

• Porgy & Bess (RCA Camden, 1958)

With Junior Mance

• The Soul of Hollywood (Jazzland, 1962)

With Gary McFarland

• The Jazz Version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" (Verve, 1962)

With Howard McGhee

• Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Bethlehem, 1956)
• Music from the Connection (Felsted, 1960)

With Carmen McRae

• Carmen McRae (Bethlehem, 1954)

With Helen Merrill

• The Artistry of Helen Merrill (Mainstream, 1965)

With Phineas Newborn, Jr.

• Phineas Newborn, Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica (RCA Victor, 1957)

With Joe Newman

• New Sounds in Swing (Jazztone, 1956) with Billy Byers
• I Feel Like a Newman (Storyville, 1956)
• The Midgets (Vik, 1956)
• Locking Horns (Rama, 1957) with Zoot Sims

With Oscar Pettiford

• Basically Duke (Bethlehem, 1954)
• Another One (Bethlehem, 1955)
• The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi (ABC-Paramount, 1956)

With Bud Powell

• Blues for Bud (Columbia, 1958)

With Jimmy Raney

• Jimmy Raney featuring Bob Brookmeyer (ABC-Paramount, 1956) with Bob Brookmeyer
• Two Jims and Zoot (Mainstream, 1964) with Jim Hall and Zoot Sims

With George Russell

• The Jazz Workshop (RCA Victor, 1957)

With Pee Wee Russell

• Swingin' with Pee Wee (Swingville, 1960) with Buck Clayton

With A. K. Salim

• Stable Mates (Savoy, 1957)

With Shirley Scott

• Great Scott!! (Impulse!, 1964)

With Zoot Sims

• Zoot! (Riverside, 1956)

With Hal Singer

• Blue Stompin' (Prestige, 1959) with Charlie Shavers

With Sonny Stitt

• Broadway Soul (Colpix, 1965)

With Sylvia Syms

• Sylvia Is! (Prestige, 1965)

With Buddy Tate

• Tate's Date (Swingville, 1960)

With Billy Taylor

• Kwamina (Mercury, 1961)

With Ben Webster

• Music with Feeling (Norgran, 1955)
• See You at the Fair (Impulse!, 1964)

With Frank Wess

• Southern Comfort (Prestige, 1962)

With Joe Wilder

• The Pretty Sound (Columbia, 1959)

With Cootie Williams

• Cootie Williams in Hi-Fi (RCA Victor, 1958)

With Kai Winding

• Dance to the City Beat (Columbia, 1959)

With Phil Woods

• Rights of Swing (Candid, 1961)