David Earle Johnson & Friends
Unreleased Cassette recordings from the personal archive of David Earle Johnson. Live performances, jam sessions, and informal recordings spanning the 1970s–1990s.
Released exactly as they were found.
New tapes are added regularly.
Friends
Art Blakely, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Miroslav Vitouš, Oregon, Taj Mahal, Jeremy Steig, Bruce Hampton,
Clive Stevens, Herbie Mann , Lenny White, Jan Hammer, Jaroslav Jakubovics,
Mark Moogy Klingmans and many more.
TITLE: David Earle Johnson Latin Jazz Quintet
SIDE: A
DATE: 12 \ 01 \ 1979
LOCATION: South Carolina
Born in Florence, South Carolina, he made his way to New York and became a sought-after collaborator, recording with Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, Lenny White, Miroslav Vitouš, Oregon, Taj Mahal, and many others. He played on Jan Hammer's *The First Seven Days*, contributed to the *Empire Strikes Back* soundtrack, and released a string of solo albums beginning with *Time Is Free* (Vanguard, 1978).
His rare Nigerian Log Drums were sampled—without permission—for the iconic *Miami Vice* theme. The resulting lawsuit was one of the first of its kind to address sampling rights in music. He lost the case, but his sounds live on in one of the most recognizable TV themes ever made.
David recorded constantly. Beyond the studio albums, he captured live performances, jam sessions, and informal moments with friends and fellow musicians on cassette tape. Over 100 of these recordings survived him.
THE ARCHIVES is an effort to share those tapes with the world—unpolished, unedited, exactly as they were found. Each cassette is presented as it was labeled, with whatever information was written on it at the time. Some have dates. Some have names. Many are mysteries.
New tapes are added regularly.
External Links:
contact: opskured@gmail.com