Thank you for visiting! Please take a moment to look around and find out more about myself and my music.
—
Kris Johnson
trumpeter, composer, and educator

Kris Johnson plays CarolBrass® Instruments
Former 3rd trumpeter of the Count Basie Orchestra

September 14, 2011
Staying unbelievably busy this fall with a bunch of great projects. I am happy to be teaching with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s youth program again; our first rehearsal was tonight actually. The band is already swingin’ hard on day one! Looking forward to all the growth that will be made with these promising students!

I’m also scoring a feature film for Stephen Allison entitled “Disasterpiece.” In other film news, I recently arranged and directed a string ensemble and horn section for 10 year old piano prodigy Ethan Bortnick for his upcoming film “Anything’s Possible.” I’ll be sure to let you know when it hits the big screen.

The upcoming album from the Kris Johnson Group, “Odd Expressions,” is one recording session away from being complete. Be on the lookout for the release sometime in November! We are continuing to pray for our acoustic bassist and dear friend Andrew Kratzat and his fiance Alicia, who were involved in a terrible car accident. His playing on this record (and everything he’s ever done) is incredible, I can’t wait to share the stage with him again really soon.

July 12, 2011
Recently I’ve been staying very busy recording and editing an upcoming album from “The Kris Johnson Group.” The album is titled “Odd Expressions” and features a 25-minute composition for my band with full orchestra, as well as “A Journey Through a Dream,” my suite written for jazz ensemble with strings. Check back soon for the official release date and CD release party (more then likely sometime in late September).

For anyone in or near the Ohio area please come check out The Kris Johnson Group’s performance at the Columbus Ribs and Jazz Fest on July 22. We’ll be performing from 4pm – 5:30pm at the Hanover stage. This set will feature a few of the new compositions featured on “Odd Expressions”!

April 9, 2011
Great news, I was recently awarded “Outstanding Score” at the 2011 LA Webfest for my work on the comedic webseries The PuNanny Diaries! Congrats to everyone involved in this project, which also won “Outstanding Editor”, “Outstanding Dramedy”, and “Outstanding Directing”. Excited to see what will come next with this great series.

March 7, 2011
Happy to report that the “Total Praise” arrangement and “Odd Expressions” commissions were huge successes! My quintet will be in the studio later this month to record “Odd Expressions,” and my jazz-fusion/neo-soul band The Kris Johnson Group just finished recording our demo. You can check out our song “Life” below, or click here for the full demo.

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November 11. 2010
Currently working on three commissioned works! The first is an arrangement of Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise” with the Farmington Community Band, a wind ensemble directed by my high school band director and long time mentor, Damien Crutcher. This arrangement will also feature a gospel choir and my jazz quartet. Secondly, the Troy High School Orchestra has commissioned a work premiering in February entitled “Odd Expressions” that will also feature my quartet along with vocalist Stacey Carter. And in March, the Farmington Community Band will have my quartet back this time to perform an original work entitled “Legacy.” Stay tuned for performance dates and rehearsal videos…

August 12, 2010
New site design! Special thanks to MoStudios for their hard work and great design.

Recently, I have completed my film scoring reel, teamed up with film-visionary Jeremy Thomas (more on that coming soon), and recorded a new demo with my quartet. I will also be performing at the Blue Note in New York with the Count Basie Orchestra with special guest LEDISI from Sept 7 – 12!