I regard "John Somebody" as a masterpiece, one which far too many do not know. Johnson is an innovator of historic proportions. In this piece he pioneered and developed the technique of “speech melodies” in which the inherent melodic content of the spoken word is revealed through repetition, but also presented instrumentally. Many believe that Steve Reich is the innovator of this technique and method, first found in his acclaimed composition, “Different Trains” (1988). But Johnson’s work, which he dates as 1980-82, predates “Different Trains” by a minimum of 6 years, but as many as 9 years, as he actually began working on the piece as early as 1979. Johnson is long overdue to receive credit for this technique which is now widely used by many composers (Reich, Jacob Ter Veldhuis, Phillip Bimstein, Robert Davidson, and Florent Ghys, to mention but a few), not only in the classical and new music communities, but also in rock and other popular musics.

Wow. This was aired on the late night Canadian radio show Brave New Waves back in ‘88. Incredibly fresh and compelling to this day. Also love the collaboration with Laurie Anderson “New York Social Life.” Thank you for innovating!

I don't know why he's unable to license this for spotify streaming. This is a classic in lines with John Reich. Underappreciated.

I understand this was all spliced together MANUALLY by Johnson (no digital editing back then- well, no digital ANYTHING, of course) Incredible job!

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Kriss Method

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