Artist Info: Bunk Johnson

Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879* – July 7, 1949) was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s.

*Bunk gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have actually been younger by as much as a decade.

Bunk received lessons from Adam Olivier and began playing professionally in Olivier's orchestra. Bunk probably played a few adolescent jobs with Buddy Bolden [read more...]