The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2 (album)

The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2 is an album by American jazz trombonist J. J. Johnson. It features performances recorded in 1954 and 1955 that were originally released on the Blue Note label as 10-inch LP records.

Reception
The Allmusic review by Stephen Cook awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "J.J. Johnson's Blue Note sides from the first half of the '50s represent some of the best bop of the day. And for listeners interested in just picking up one of the trombonist's early dates, this second installment of his Eminent J.J. Johnson series is the one to get... a bop classic.". The CD reissue includes recordings originally released on The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 3 and alternate takes as bonus tracks. The Penguin Guide to Jazz included both reissue volumes of The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson in its "Core Collection," and assigned its "crown" accolade, along with a four-star rating (of a possible four stars), to both albums.

Release history
This album was originally released as two records in Blue Note's 10-inch Modern Jazz 5000 Series, as BLP 5057 (entitled The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson) and BLP 5070 (The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 3). When reissued in the 12-inch 1500 series of LPs, the tracks from the former release were spread across two albums (The Eminent J. J. Johnson, Volume 1 (BLP 1505) and The Eminent J. J. Johnson, Volume 2 (BLP 1506)), and the tracks from BLP 5070 were included on BLP 1506. The CD reissue put BLP 5057 and BLP 5070 together, with additional bonus tracks.

Track listing (2001 remastered CD)

 * All compositions by J. J. Johnson except as indicated


 * 1) "Too Marvelous for Words" (Johnny Mercer, Richard A. Whiting) – 3:35
 * 2) "Jay" – 3:42
 * 3) "Old Devil Moon" (E. Y. Harburg, Burton Lane) – 3:52
 * 4) "It's You or No One" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) – 4:06
 * 5) "Time After Time" (Cahn, Styne) – 4:13
 * 6) "Coffee Pot" – 4:08
 * 7) "Pennies from Heaven" (Johnny Burke, Arthur Johnston) – 4:18 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 8) "Viscosity" – 4:21 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 9) "You're Mine, You" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman) – 3:07 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 10) "Daylie Double" – 4:27 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 11) "Groovin'" – 4:40 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 12) "Portrait of Jennie" (Gordon Burdge, J. Russel Robinson) – 2:56 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 13) "Pennies from Heaven" [alternative take] (Burke, Johnston) – 4:25 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 14) "Viscosity" [alternative take] – 4:21 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * 15) "Daylie Double" [alternative take] – 4:38 Bonus track on CD reissue
 * Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on September 24, 1954 (tracks 1–6) and June 6, 1955 (tracks 7–15)

(The 1989 Blue Note CD release contained the same tracks but in a different order.)

Personnel

 * J.J. Johnson – trombone
 * Hank Mobley – tenor saxophone (tracks 7–15)
 * Wynton Kelly (tracks 1–6), Horace Silver (tracks 7–15) – piano
 * Charles Mingus (tracks 1–6), Paul Chambers (tracks 7–15) – bass
 * Kenny Clarke – drums
 * Sabu Martinez – conga (tracks 1–3, 6)