Fresh Air, Mark Salzman and J.J. Johnson

By: Terry Gross

Narrated by: Terry Gross

Length: 1 hr

Publisher's Summary

Novelist Mark Salzman and remembering jazz trombonist J.J. Johnson on this edition of Fresh Air. Mark Salzman is the author of the new novel, Lying Awake, about a cloistered nun who discovers that her spiritual visions may be induced by epilepsy. The book explores the connection between neurological disorders and mysticism. Salzman is also the author of the novel The Soloist, and a memoir, Lost in Place. He is also a cellist. J.J. Johnson, a pioneer of the modern jazz trombone, died an apparent suicide at age 77. Johnson was considered the definitive trombonist of the bebop generation. He played with the Count Basie Orchestra, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Wood Herman, and Miles Davis, often balancing that with leading his own band. Later in life, Johnson moved to Hollywood to work as a composer and arranger for television. (Broadcast Dates: February 7, 2001 and December 14, 1987)

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